The Miami Heat pulled off the first trade of this NBA season on Tuesday when they sent Mario Chalmers to the Memphis Grizzlies as a way to save money against the luxury tax. Before the trade Chalmers was Miami's backup point guard and averaging 20 minutes per game so now the Heat need to fill that void. Miami did get Beno Udrih back in the trade from Memphis but it seems like they are prepared to go with Johnson as the backup point guard over Udrih, according to Ethan J. Skolnick of the Miami Herald.
The Heat have always been high on their former undrafted free agent and even before this trade was made Johnson had a role with the Heat but with Chalmers now gone that role will likely increase. Johnson is a natural shooting guard at 6 foot-4 but he has played some point guard this season and should be able to handle being the main backup to Goran Dragic.
Johnson played with the Heat last season as he signed multiple ten-day contracts and ended up appearing in 32 games. After impressing the Heat as a rookie he came into training camp as a favorite to make the roster and he even earned himself a role on an extremely deep team. Johnson has been impressive in seven games so far this season as he is averaging 7.3 points and 1.7 assists in 19.9 minutes per game while shooting 53 percent from the field and playing tremendous defense. While Miami's main motivation for moving Chalmers was financial, Johnson's play also helped them pull the trigger as he has outplayed Chalmers significantly this season anyway.
There were reports after the trade that the Heat were considering trading Udrih and Jarnell Stokes after acquiring them from the Grizzlies but the Heat couldn't find anyone to take them so they are likely to stick around. Udrih is having a pretty good season but he doesn't have the upside or defensive capability of Johnson so he will likely just be the third string point guard and provide depth at the position.
Udrih has more of a track record than Johnson but at this point Johnson is the clear choice for a bigger role as Erik Spoelstra has called him an "irresistible force" that has "earned what he is getting." In Tuesday night's game, the first without Chalmers, Johnson was the first guard off the bench and he played 29 minutes and that is something that should become close to the norm moving forward as the path is clear now for Johnson to play a big role.
