Indiana Pacers Sign Reliable Free Agent Veteran For the 5th Time Since September 2022

James Johnson, 37, has played for 10 NBA teams since entering the league as the No. 16 pick in the 2009 draft (via Chicago Bulls). Since joining the Indiana Pacers in September 2022, Johnson has been on and off the roster.

He was waived on February 2023 alongside Goga Bitadze to make room for Jordan Nwora, Serge Ibaka, and George Hill after a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks. But he re-signed with Indiana for the remainder of the season after the team cut Ibaka.

10 months later, James Johnson re-signed with Indiana but was waived (again) in January 2024 when the team traded for Pascal Siakam. The 15-year veteran signed two 10-day contracts before he stayed with the team for the rest of the 2023-24 campaign.

In 27 games as a member of the Indiana Pacers, James Johnson is averaging only 2.2 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per game. However, his impact is beyond the box score, as he’s mainly there for his veteran leadership.

Indiana Pacers’ 2024 offseason so far

The addition of James Johnson gives the Indiana Pacers 15 players under contract for the 2024-25 campaign. Before this, the team signed James Wiseman, Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam , and Obi Toppin to multi-year deals, while Jalen Smith was their only notable departure.

Johnny Furphy was signed to a four-year rookie scale deal after Indiana acquired him from San Antonio on draft night, while fellow second-round picks Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman will likely be on two-way contracts.

The Indiana Pacers are looking to build off their deep playoff run last season, where they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2014 when they still had the core of Paul George, David West, Roy Hibbert, Lance Stephenson, and George Hill.