Miami Heat Match Offer Sheet for Tyler Johnson

According to reports, the Miami Heat have matched the offer sheet that restricted free agent guard Tyler Johnson signed with the Brooklyn Nets. The Heat had until 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday night to match, but chose to do so earlier Sunday evening. They’ll retain Johnson on a contract worth $50 million over four years.

Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical broke the news that Miami matched the offer on Sunday evening:

The Miami Heat have matched Brooklyn's $50M offer sheet for Tyler Johnson, league source tells @TheVertical.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 10, 2016

Miami Heat Match Offer Sheet for Tyler Johnson

Johnson’s new contract will take him through the 2019-20 season. In his 36 regular season games with Miami last season, Johnson averaged 8.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. He would have played in far more games, but a significant shoulder injury sidelined Johnson from the beginning of February until partway through the Heat’s second round series against the Toronto Raptors. Johnson backed up both guard positions last season for the Heat. With long-time Heat star Dwyane Wade now gone, having signed with the Chicago Bulls, Johnson may step into the starting shooting guard role for Miami. If Heat coach Erik Spoelstra chooses to start Josh Richardson next to point guard Goran Dragic in the backcourt (as most people expect), then Johnson will provide valuable energy off the bench for them.

For the Nets, not being able to acquire Johnson hurts. Brooklyn signed Jeremy Lin earlier in free agency to become the team’s new starting point guard, and the Nets had planned on shoring up the wing positions by signing Johnson and Allen Crabbe. However, both Johnson and Crabbe were restricted free agents, leaving their futures in the hands of their incumbent teams. After the Portland Trail Blazers matched Brooklyn’s offer sheet to Crabbe earlier on Sunday, the Nets had to be hoping that they’d at least get Johnson. But now that the Heat have matched the offer sheet and retained Johnson, the Nets will have to deal with the fact that their only major free agency move, at least so far, is the signing of Lin.