Free-agent forward Stanley Johnson signed a contract to return to the G League and officially joined a new team. The Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s affiliate, announced in a press release that they acquired Johnson from the NBAGL’s available player pool, waiving former South Dakota standout Tyler Hagedorn to complete the transaction.
The eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft, Johnson appeared in 48 games for the Lakers last season, starting 27 of them. He averaged 6.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 1.7 APG on .466/.314/.716 shooting in 22.8 minutes per contest.
Johnson’s contract included a minimum-salary team option for 2022-23, which the Lakers picked up, but he was flipped to Utah along with Talen Horton-Tucker later in the offseason in the trade that sent Patrick Beverley to Los Angeles. Johnson then became a victim of a roster crunch in Utah — the Jazz waived him at the end of the preseason when they had to reduce their roster to 15 players on standard contracts.
With no NBA opportunities presenting themselves since Johnson became an unrestricted free agent in October, he’ll head back to the G League to try to prove that he deserves another shot at the NBA level.
The 26-year-old began last season with the South Bay Lakers before earning a call-up. This time around, he’ll play for the Heat‘s G League affiliate. Although Sioux Falls now holds Johnson’s NBAGL rights, he remains an NBA free agent with the ability to sign with any team at any time.
More must-reads: