Evaluating Amir Johnson’s performance at the season’s midway point

Amir Johnson was signed to a one-year, $11 million contract by the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason. At this point, most fans probably wish that never happened.

When it was announced that the Philadelphia 76ers signed Amir Johnson to a one-year, $11 million dollar contract, I didn’t care. The Sixers are built around an All-Star center in Joel Embiid, are grooming a long-term backup in Richaun Holmes, and had a permanent bench warmer listed as a center in Jahlil Okafor, so another center wasn’t a need.

As someone that has never been very supportive of the idea that young teams needing veteran leadership to help them reach their full potential, $11 million seemed like a severe over-pay for a 30-year-old player that has averaged 7.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and one block per game during his soon-to-be-13-season career.

Johnson spent the previous two seasons with the Boston Celtics. When he was first signed by the Celtics, Rob Mahoney gave the signing a B+ at the time, writing:

"“Boston can plug Johnson into the lineup to satisfy a rim-protecting void that no other big on the roster could while mixing it up inside and fulfilling the team’s interests in perimeter shooting (Johnson, while not especially prolific, hit 35 percent of his three-pointers over the past two seasons).More from Sixers News3 Sixers players who could help Team USA Basketball76ers 2k24 ratings: 3 most underrated players on Philadelphia roster76ers head coach Nick Nurse bares lofty plans for Paul Reed this seasonGrade the Trade: 76ers swap Tobias Harris for superstar PG in mock dealBreaking Down Bombshell Report on Sixers Star James HardenJohnson’s base per-game stats don’t jump off the page. Where he thrives is in the smaller contributions that make basketball teams go, and those – along with stronger per-minute projections – made him a consistent and crucial ingredient of Toronto’s best lineups.”"

This evaluation of Johnson’s skills were shown in A. Sherrod Blakely’s recap of Johnson’s performance in Boston’s 112-108 win over the Miami Heat during the 2016-17 season, when Blakely wrote this:

"“Johnson was also tied for second on the team with four deflections against Miami while recovering a team-best three loose balls. But what really seemed to be almost contagious with the Celtics in the second half more so than the first against Miami was their increased effort to contest as many Heat shots as possible.And yes it was Johnson leading the way with 12 contested two-point shots which was tops among all Celtics players against the Heat.Contesting shots and grabbing loose balls is not going to get you on the even news highlight reel, or a lot of love from fans, either.But it does get the attention of the coaching staff and the respect of teammates who have repeatedly talked about how important Johnson’s presence is to what they are trying to accomplish this season.”"

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The above quote is something I and probably many fans struggle with when watching Johnson play.

While he was a better option than Okafor when Embiid missed games and Holmes was injured, watching him play with the ball in his hands on offense sometimes looks like a rookie that’s playing in his first game and has no confidence in his ability to score against NBA players.

Despite his ability to play good one-on-one defense, he’s only averaging 2.9 defensive rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game this season. The Sixers give up 1.2 fewer points when he’s not on court, and Sixers have only won one of the eight games in which Johnson started.

Maybe Johnson’s knowledge and effort is helping to teach Embiid and Holmes how to become better players, but with Embiid already missing games due to injury and Holmes still lacking consistency despite his ability to make SportsCenter-worthy dunks and blocks, it would’ve been nice if the Sixers had spent $11 million dollars on a better player.

Next: 5 second round prospects worth watching in 2018

Improving the backup center spot through a trade before the deadline should be something the Sixers strongly consider.