Heat's Johnson 'threw up a couple of times' hearing free-agent offer
Earning under $1 million in each of his first two seasons in the NBA as a member of the Miami Heat, guard Tyler Johnson was beyond floored when he heard the Brooklyn Nets were offering him $50 million over four years as a restricted free agent.
"I threw up a couple of times when I heard the number go out there. I was in shock. I even lost a little bit of weight, because just the anxiety of going through that whole process and not knowing where I was going to be," Johnson said during a team-sponsored water-safety event on Monday, according to the Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman.
The widespread belief was that Miami wasn't going to match, allowing the 24-year-old to head to the New York borough. That wasn't the case, though, as with Dwyane Wade joining the Chicago Bulls after negotiations with the Heat fell through, management elected to pay Johnson to prevent another asset from leaving.
"I was like almost 100 percent sure I was going to end up in Brooklyn," Johnson said. "But, yeah, it's an incredible feeling. And I'm excited to get back to work."
The structure of the deal with Brooklyn had Johnson making around $19 million in the last two years of the contract. The Heat were hoping for more balance at $12.5 million each year, but Johnson had already inked the offer sheet as constructed.
"It was very late in the process," he said. "I had already kind of come to the assumption that everything was going to play out the way it didn't, really, like they were going to re-sign Dwyane and everything. I think that kind of threw a wrench in everything. It was only a matter of an hour and a half where I had to make the decision of either signing an offer sheet that I kind of committed to or just not signing and restructure a new deal.
"Obviously I opted to sign it and keep the commitment I made to Brooklyn. And Miami still showed how much they wanted me to be a part of their team by matching."
Johnson only suited up for 36 games in 2015-16 as a result of shoulder surgery. He averaged 8.7 points and three rebounds on 48.6 percent shooting.