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The Indiana Pacers were rumored to be interested in signing veteran James Johnson recently and on Friday, they made this signing official.
Johnson, 35, has played in the NBA for 13 seasons, spending time with nine different franchises. Since the start of the 2009-10 season, Johnson has played for the Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans and most recently, the Brooklyn Nets.
In 62 games with the Nets last season, the veteran averaged 5.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor. On April 7 though, prior to the start of the playoffs, Johnson was waived by Brooklyn.
While he is not known to be a high-level scorer on the offensive-end of the floor, Johnson has always been deemed a physical and tough defender. With the Pacers, a younger team in this league, Johnson could immediately step into a leadership role and give this team some much-needed depth in their frontcourt.
Going 25-57 last season, their worst record since they won just 22 games during the 1984-85 season, the Indiana Pacers are now rebuilding and searching for ways to build a youthful core for the future.
Tyrese Haliburton figures to be the young leader of this team, as other talents such as Buddy Hield, Isaiah Jackson, Jalen Smith, Chris Duarte and rookie Bennedict Mathrin will likely figure into this team’s plans moving forward.
Along with signing James Johnson on Friday, the team announced that they had also signed 2022 second-round pick Kendall Brown to a two-way contract and Bennie Boatwright, Gabe York and David Stockton to training camp deals.
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