Tyler Johnson vomited after receiving $50M offer sheet
In the Miami Heat's season-opening win Wednesday, guard Tyler Johnson took his first step toward validating the four-year, $50-million contract he signed this past offseason, coming off the bench to score 15 points (on 7-of-11 shooting), with six rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Johnson, who went undrafted out of Fresno State in 2014, before latching on with the Heat's D-League affiliate and ultimately earning a minimum contract last season, has had to get used to the idea of himself as an eight-figure-a-year player.
It was the Brooklyn Nets who came through with the $50-million offer sheet, one the Heat had the ability to match because Johnson was a restricted free agent. When Johnson was first presented with the offer, he was literally sick with emotion.
Johnson promptly left his agent's office, returned to his hotel room across the street, called his mother to say "We did it," and then threw up twice, according to ESPN's Pablo Torre.
"We hadn't even come to a decision yet, but I didn't know how to react," Johnson said.
The seemingly outsized contract was the product of a confluence of circumstances, namely the salary cap jumping $24 million as Johnson - who lost more than half of last season to injury, and averaged 8.7 points in 24 minutes when he played - hit free agency.
"People were like, 'Who is this guy? I have to look his name up on Google,'" Johnson said. "They don't look at me and see $50 million, necessarily."
Johnson accepts that some may view him as overpaid - the beneficiary of both a system that caps salaries, and of a wild summer in which there was too much money to spend and not enough players to spend it on.
"I have no complaints," Johnson said. "It worked out in my favor."
That doesn't mean he isn't motivated to earn every cent of his contract and then some. The Heat will give him plenty of opportunity to do so. By waiving two prospective backup point guards after the preseason, they nominally handed the role to Johnson, even though he profiles more naturally as a shooting guard. If the first game of the 2016-17 campaign was any indication, he looks ready to reward the team's faith.
"My goal in the NBA wasn't to make a bunch of money," Johnson explained. "When it's all said and done? I just want people to say, 'Man, that kid could play.'"