It seems like so long ago that the Kings signed James Johnson to be a core member of their lineup and then he totally stank it up for them, garnering negative win-shares and having his already-iffy jumpshoot ability completely sapped out of him like he got surprise-attacked by the Monstars. Then Memphis reclaimed him, and, with just a one-year turnaround, transformed him back into a capable role-player. And since that point, he’s been just that, a good (sometimes great) role-player who can be an ultra-budget LeBron for teams that can’t afford the real thing or don’t have the prestige to attract the real thing in free-agency.
I think James Johnson’s career represents another tally mark in the “Reasons why the Kings are a cursed, wretched franchise” column. But that’s in the past. We’re in the present now.
Johnson has been playing the “LeBron-lite” role in Miami for two years now, and that’s all well and good, except he’s not really LeBron and he’s not really going to lead the team to anywhere other than maybe a first-round exit. There are rumors that the real LeBron is looking at Miami as a free-agency destination, so it’s possible that the Heat could field a lineup next season that has two LeBrons in it, except one of the LeBrons is way worse than the other. At least that team wouldn’t be a guaranteed first-round exit.