ESPN Boston Celtics writer Adam Himmelsbach tweeted yesterday afternoon that sources around the historic franchise expect to resign power forward Amir Johnson to a new $12 million contract. The 6'9″ veteran came to Beantown last year on a $24 million, 2-year contract after playing up in Toronto for the previous six years.
Johnson's signing has come as some surprise to fans around the league who expected the Celtics to search exclusively for max-contract talents. With the power forward now resigning for a new contract, Boston no longer has the cap flexibility to sign two max-contracts unless a trade occurs.
Hearing that it's likely the Celtics will guarantee Amir Johnson's $12 million contract for next season.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 30, 2016
During his last campaign in Beantown, Amir Johnson started 76 games in the regular season, a career-high, while tallying 7.3 points and 1.7 assists per game for the green and white. The 11-year veteran posted averaged a career playoff-high 7.2 rebounds per game during his sole postseason with the Celtics. Head coach Brad Stevens relied on Johnson to start all six games of their first round series, showing just how much Boston relied on his big presence in the paint.
While Johnson is expected to resign with Boston in the next couple days, he could still see a relocation this offseason, especially if the Celtics do win over marquee free agents such as Kevin Durant. The Celtics also reportedly held a meeting with ex-Rockets' dejected center Dwight Howard, but whether Boston takes a chance on the 2008 dunk champion will remain to be seen.
Regardless, analysts around the league eye this Johnson resigning as an interesting move for the Celtics. With Boston's main problem being the lack of a superstar in their roster, this could be a signal for an impending trade or, on the other hand, could be a signal that the Celtics aren't attracting the marquee free agents they desire.
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