On Thursday, the Indiana Pacers once again signed veteran forward James Johnson to a contract. The 36-year old was previously on a 10-day deal, and it expired once Wednesday ended.
Johnson spent the last few weeks on two 10-day agreements, but a team can't sign a player to more than a pair of that contract type in one season. If Indiana wanted to keep Johnson, they needed to ink him to a rest-of-season contract. With the trade deadline having passed on Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, Indiana was happy to do so.
Johnson has gone through a wave of transactions this season. He was originally signed in mid-December, and his contract became fully guaranteed in January. In order to open up a roster spot to complete a trade, he was waived about a week later. But the Pacers still wanted him around, so they kept him on consecutive 10-day deals, which gave the team more flexibility.
With Johnson temporarily not under contract Thursday morning, the Pacers pulled off two trades and brought in three players in Doug McDermott, Furkan Korkmaz, and Cory Joseph. Korkmaz and Joseph have since been waived, and Johnson took one of their roster spots.
"There's a presence he brings and a wisdom and a respect that was very helpful to us last year and I believe will be again," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said when the team originally signed Johnson this season. He was with the blue and gold in 2022-23 as well.
His toughness and leadership have made him an important part of the Pacers operation. It's clear how much the team values him by looking at his contract history — in the last 18 months, Indiana has signed Johnson to six different contracts. They love having him around.
Now, they will for the rest of the season unless he is waived again. He is averaging 0.8 points and 1.0 assists per game in five appearances this campaign.
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