The Toronto Raptors are on a bit of a roll right now as they have won three consecutive games to bring their record to 10-6 the last of which was over the Eastern Conference favorite Cleveland Cavaliers. Things seem to be going pretty well and now is not the time for an unwanted distraction but that is exactly what James Johnson gave them on Wednesday night with this tweet.
So far this season Johnson has only appeared in 12 of the Raptors 16 games and he is averaging just 13.5 minutes per game which is the lowest he's played since his rookie year. Johnson is buried on the depth chart as he is the third center and the third power forward which means there isn't much of a role for him and that is why he feels "under-utilized."
Johnson is in his second stint with Toronto and has played for four different teams in his six year career but he has been productive for them, including last season. With Amir Johnson having moved on this offseason Johnson figured to have a bigger role but the Raptors brought in Luis Scola and Bismack Biyombo so that hasn't happened and likely won't. It can be argued that Johnson should be playing over Patrick Patterson as he has struggled so far this season but that doesn't appear to be on the horizon.
Johnson did apologize after sending out the tweet but he is clearly unhappy about his situation and it is possible that he could ask for a trade from the Raptors, according to Nick Borges of ESPN. Johnson likely won't be able to bring back much in a trade for Toronto but it could be addition by subtraction as they don't want an unhappy player bringing down the mood on the bench and in the locker room.
There would likely be teams interested in Johnson as he has a career PER of 14.4 and although he won't be a great player for a team he is better than being a third string big man. The Raptors happen to be deep in the frontcourt so they don't really have room for Johnson but there are plenty of teams that would be able to use him in their rotation.
#Mood. Under-utilized
— James Johnson (@IamJJ3) November 26, 2015
