Boston Celtics Sign Amir Johnson

chronicle.northcoastnow.com

The Boston Celtics have reached an agreement with free agent power forward Amir Johnson. The deal is set to pay Johnson $24 million over two years. Johnson previously played for the Toronto Raptors. Johnson started all but three of the games he played in for the Raptors last season.

In Boston, Johnson probably won’t start, unless he gets the start at center. Jared Sullinger is pretty firmly entrenched as the Celtics’ starting power forward when healthy, but beyond him the Celtics front court is anything but set. The Celtics went in to the offseason needing another big man badly Johnson is exactly the type of player that they need. Johnson is a gritty and though player that will bang down low when he needs to, but will also step out and hit a jump shot when asked. Johnson shot 41% from behind the three point arc, granted it was a somewhat limited sample. Perhaps Johnson’s two year presence in Boston will help their young front court develop some more toughness.

Johnson isn’t going to make a huge impact on the Celtics beyond depth and effort. Last season he averaged nine points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes per game. Those numbers are likely to look pretty similar to whatever he averages next season with the Celtics. $12 million per year may have been a bit of an overpay, but one has to remember how much the cap will inflate next season. With next year’s salary cap, a deal worth $12 million under the current cap should equal around eight million dollars. Johnson’s deal is also only two years long, so when the Celtics begin to climb back into legitimate contention, his contract won’t even affect the team. Johnson appears to be a temporary signing that will be used to change the culture in Boston. If he plays his best basketball he will be a quality addition to the Celtics roster.