The Miami Heat have a big offseason ahead, but let’s still review what happened this season! To continue with our Miami Heat player review series, we delve into hyper-athletic swingman Keshad Johnson!
Past Player Reviews:
Brief Overview:
2025-26 stats (32 games):
- 4.3 PPG
- 1.9 RPG
- 49.0 FG%
- 55.3 eFG%
- 58.2 TS%
Johnson’s role was more prominent in 2025-26, although he was still on the outside-looking-in on the rotation. This year was his first full year with a standard contract, doubling the number of games (32 to 16) he played compared to his rookie season. And the 6-foot-6 forward stood out when he was given decent minutes, though he played 15-plus minutes just seven times.
Numbers to note:
5.1 – Fastbreak points per 100 possessions
Even though we haven’t seen much of it in-game in his brief career, Johnson’s one of the Heat’s most exciting play finishers on the break. Nicknamed “Showtime,” Johnson’s also one of the Heat’s most efficient. He averaged 5.1 fastbreak points per 100 possessions, the second to only Norman Powell (5.2). He also had 5.0 points-off-turnovers per 100 (T-2) and added nearly one point (+0.9; 86th percentile) on transition opportunities off steals.
37.5 – Johnson’s 3-point percentage from corner
With essentially every number we talk with Johnson, we’re working with an incredibly microscopic sample. He only took 16 corner threes this season (including garbage time), converting on six of them. It’s nothing to ride home about, but Johnson, a subpar 3-point shooter, should only be restricted to corner threes if he’s going to take them. He went 7-for-28 from above-the-break and, no matter where he takes them, he’s not going to be guarded until he makes tangible growth over time.
Best Game?
Johnson’s best game of the season came on Nov. 21 against the Chicago Bulls — his first real minutes of the season. He tallied 14 points, a season-high 11 rebounds (four offensive) with a pair of blocks and one steal in 29 minutes. He only shot 3-for-10, but his impact transcended elsewhere.
What’s next?
Johnson enters this summer as a restricted free agent. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back, but it would be nothing more than a two- or three-year minimum deal with another option tagged onto it. Should he return, I also wouldn’t be surprised if his role continued to grow. He still projects to be an 11th or 12th man, at best, off the bench. But he’s an excellent defender when he doesn’t have to play the 5, and he’s still growing as a ballhandler, processor and shooter.
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During the trading period in February, I picked the Knicks for eastern conference champion, but I will admit I was wrong on the reasoning. I thought the additions of Alvarado and Sochan would put them over the top. Sochan was mostly dnp. He’s young and has the physical tools to be something, but is he just a head case? Alvarado has helped a little.
knicks better hope they dont meet det they cant beat them .phil can beat the knicks f ny teams go phily.kats raised his game.is there an arguement who u rather have bam or kat?hawks are the heat phily will be a true test
I dislike both but dislike Philadelphia more. Why do you think Knicks can’t beat Detroit? I think they can. As for your question, I will be a smart fish and not take that bait.
look at past playoffs
Past performance does not guarantee future results 😉
thompson stones jb #1 reason rc
I dislike both as well, but I hate the Knicks more then Philly, Knicks can beat them, pistons don’t have a reliable second scoring option,unless Tobias continues that trend, or duren wakes up. But I hope pistons beat them, I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes to 7, it will be late 90s ,early 2000s blood bath of attrition, and low scoring affair probably.
duren has been very underwhelming btw not impressed with him.dont think they enough offense .defense is sterllar except for our castoff.duncan looks like out of place in hard nosed det team.
Detroit is the one team which can make the most use of Tyler Herro. Substitute him for Uncan and you have a better team. The question is, what would a trade with Detroit look like?
moseley fired orlando that is not a family run business
I believe we’ve identified the problem. Cleveland outrebounded Toronto 60-33.
Having a big front line is a weapon. We could have it by adding another quality big man.
bam ware goldin keshad f dumbot never tried the latter 2 hes a dum ass playing jovic and wiggy at pf
My opinion is, that KJ is not a NBA level player. Many will disagree, but that’s what I think.
I wish it would be different.
He has potential. He is athletic, has the right work ethic and a positive attitude. I would offer him another 2 year minimum contract. Worse case scenario, he’ll be a roster filler to keep costs down and a trade filler, if needed. I would take him over an undrafted player. In 2 years, he will either work himself into being a solid rotation player or find himself out of the NBA.
Yes, all that, that’s why hard to say that he doesn’t belong.
Still, he is 10-12 Heat player, without much chance to move up in front of JJJ, Pelle, Simone, even Niko. All those players are several levels above him regarding skills level.
KJ is just not talented enough, to get closer to that group-
At least two of those are also borderline NBA players at the moment.
that is just not true everytime dumbot has put him in hes look like he belongs.what does he not do good sir.jovic 4 years of mediocre to crape ball.kj has a chance based on what ive seen to be a rotation player.
I don’t think Simone will be coming back, unless it is on a smaller contract. I think Heat will trade Jovic as part of a package if he doesn’t get his mojo back. He’ll be easier to trade if he does. Maybe as part of a Jamal Murray trade.
Miami gets: Murray $50,105,000 (2026-2027 salary)
Denver gets: Herro $33,000,000 + Jovic $16,200,000 = $49,200,000 (2026-2027 salaries) plus a first round pick
Works for me. I would do it after the 2026 draft June 23-24, 2026. Trading officially begins on July 6, 2026.
I always wonder how teams get rid of players who don’t work out. One of the worst parts of a bust is the exit strategy. You can get rid of them only three ways, as a sweetener, where you basically pay another team to take that player off your hands, or in a trade for another player of equally diminished value. The third avenue, as a contract filler, doesn’t appear available with Jovic, as his contract lasts another few years. So he is going to be even harder to move, if that’s what the Heat eventually chooses to do. Thats why you have to be so careful when you give out longer term contracts. I mean, if Jovic doesn’t improve, and the odds are not good on that, we might have him on the bench three more years.
just release the mo fo y the f not 30 eat the salary move on .f the nba rules
Yes, it’s tough to take a stand on these threads in saying some player or some team isn’t good enough. I think we all want to be encouraging and lean towards positivity. But, sometimes being honest about your assessments is more valuable to this forum than just always hoping for the best.
I kind of agree with you on KJ, even with his dunking crown.
I agree everyone should be comfortable speaking their mind here. We should recognize, however, that much of what we say falls under the definition of opinion, and doesn’t mean the writer is right or wrong. Same is true for the person who responds. That is the essence of this forum. Nobody is really happy when our favorite team is struggling. Right or wrong, I remain a glass half full fan.
in my opinion your opinion is biased.
If you imply on race thing, that of course not.
If you imply on the type of player KJ is, maybe. I prefer to watch skilled players.
.how do u know he never plays
Both Orlando and Toronto out. Both were quite close.
In the east the quality of top 8 teams is quite even.
Next season Indiana will have Haliburton back, no more tanking for them. Charlotte was no. 9 this year and based on their trajectory they should be better next year. That means there should be a total of 11 teams fighting for the playoffs if I add the Heat to the mix.
Chicago and Milwaukee will be better too. Washington, with Trae and AD back, a deep bench plus a top 5 pick may also be in the running for a play-in/playoff spot. That leaves Miami and Brooklyn.
You describe my greatest fears, that several of those teams will surpass us. It could happen. We better have a good offseason.
sports is cyclical panthers are cycling upward heat cycling downward thank zito and pat for that
I blame that on the team’s (mis)management.
Yes, that’s true. But, we were a significant step below the top six teams as Toronto and Orlando clearly outclassed us during the regular season. It’s hard to pick a winner amongst the remaining four but I choose the Knicks, who I predict will beat Detroit in another very close series (unless injuries change things).
not really 30 one good move were back u move kawhi for herro .that puts us even with toronto orlando not to far from the big 4.need bam as 3rd best player.if jas right hes better than bam..hfl wish list very attainable jakawih
Top east teams finally advance…well not all. Celts choked. Mazulla getting bashed for that lineup change. Maybe we can exchange coaches for 2 seasons lol
a healthy embid never would have thought it him and maxey might be best 1 2 punch left .3 great series coming up okc should romp over lal.
That is what is so disappointing about top level players who are paid big money and get their fans hopes up, only to be out (injured/suspended etc.) especially when they are needed most. There are a buttload of them, including:
Bradley Beal
Damian Lillard
Anthony Davis
Kahwi Leonard
Kevin Durant
Jamal Murray
Michael Porter Jr.
Zion Williamson
Ja Morant
Tyler Herro
Marcus Smart
Quitter Butler
Paul George
Riley preaches that the most important ability is avail-ability. He used that as justification for not giving Butler an extension. I sure hope he doesn’t go out and pick any players on this list.
Well, you know, what is left then?
guys that dont play alot
except for mikail bridges they all miss time .u can thank b2b$,the martian needs to take them out of the game.pat obviously doesnt preach athletic ability .off that list give me kawhi and ja next year id be googoo ga ga
“give me kawhi and ja next year id be googoo ga ga”
…until the first time each of them goes out for God knows how long with a booboo.
And then we’d be doo-doo. And someone would boohoo!
no my toes would be tingling big time so sick of bam ty team gtoh bam first please.need new players.anybody not named bam tyler
I suggest you prepare yourself to be at least half very disappointed.
More like doo-doo caca.
they all get injured id say 80% of the best players miss 15 -20 games a year u cant play 82 games on that hard surface and not get hurt.wear and teat shorten season 10 games or so get better product for jimmys season.cant have no kd luka ant.gordon even wemby.its to much toll on body b2bs
wear and teat shorten season 10 games
LMFAO 😆😆
62-67 games is ok. Its the ones who average 55 or less games over the past few years or over their careers I’m talking about.
I secretly want Ja too. I know he’s a risk but it’s one I’d take. I’m not even sure I’d rather have Giannis as we’d have to give up too much to get him and he’d never come. Ja would come on the cheap. If we got him, gave up let’s say Herro and Pelle (or JJJ – you have to give up something good to get him), but no picks, kept everyone else, added another big and got a 6’8”ish two wayer in the draft, that team could compete. Thats my ideal scenario.
Fair take. The only problem is the money Ja is making. Now if we could convince them to take Jovic….
the only way they take jovic is if they think theyre getting jokic
I think Ja have a negative value now, so no Pelle and JJJ. Herro expiring contract and his scoring should be enough of a bite for Memphis.
Still, I m not sure if Ja is still a good player. A small guard, not a good shooter, doesn’t defend much… Kemba and Thomas comes to mind, former all stars out of the league in their early 30s.
I wonder if Irving would be available. He had a bad reputation, but in Dallas he was nothing but great till his injury.
Much better player then Ja.
I would definitely go for Kyrie, If available, tbh I like him over everyone sun listed above.
True, Irving is a top player, even better than Ja. . I forgot about him. But, Kyrie is getting up there in years.
He’s averaged 45 games per year over the past 6 years.
killer 3 from struss cavs going to semis
he was alwys better than unc me and rc would go back and forth for years
Yep…but Heat can’t, or won’t pay him anymore. But definitely he was given the break from Miami
My position at the time was that, at that point he did not equal Duncan’s accomplishments and it was true. We couldn’t have gone back and forth for ‘years’ because he was only here a little over 2 years. Strus was obviously a better defender. Career stats…
Strus – 10.4/3.5/2.3 37% 3p%.
Duncan – 11.5/2.6/1.9 39.9% 3p%.
Again, in the relatively short time both were here, Duncan had broken several Steph Curry records. He had, in fact, accomplished more than Strus at that point.
Strus now has 742 3s, Duncan 1422.
No question I would take Strus now because of intangibles and physicality.
u can see that from day 1 no?athleticism kinda important
no brandon ingrahm thats not surprising
strus with the coco brazil head butt
He’ll get his real opportunity when picked up with one of the expansion teams next year.
I like this kid but sadly he might be a filler for a whale…or maybe a shark?
Game today…that was soooo early. 3AM here woke up to see Det advancing. Good for Uncan
he was really bad today unc
not sure what suggs contract status is but hes holding that team back i look for ja to be on orlando next year
really impressed with this jenkins pg
thought tobias was washed wrong again
is cade best player in east
Cade brown Mitchell brunson maxey my top 5 in the east this year in that order
I’m hoping cavs lose, so we can have a chance at Mitchell, also after Celtics lost, there is rumblings that they might break up the duo of brown, and Tatum. Celtics blame Tatum for there lost, and brown supposedly wants his own team. It’s just rumors but I would be happy to get either of them.
what u smoking at the gym big cs never break up b and t
U don’t know that, they are already over the luxury tax, they don’t have a lot of depth, and the they’re bigs are trash vuce Is cooked, queta isn’t a starter, they have a bunch of 1 way players like Pritchard,hauser, Baylor, Hugo,garza. They play as much white players as we do. Also celtics fans wanna break it up, as dumb as that sounds. Not a lot of ways they can get better tbh.
.jt was coming off achilles prob not 100% jt traded they better get a guy from athens cs are to white but in boston thats not a surprise.jt jb are max players bam isnt..but yeah they have no pg no center so you might be right .
The Cs sent out KG and Pierce not too long after their championship year. So anything is possible. In fact, that was how they built the team they have now.
kg pp past prime jt jb still in
dets d unreal theres a whole lot athleticism on the ct except for 55
jalen suggs is just awful every game i watch of him
tobias harris unreal game
cade is so good #1 pick ditto paulo do we want to suck that bad for that long
dunc throwing down cain hes like 1 for 10 btw simones worse lol
Without adequate minutes, it’s hard to tell what they have in Keshad. Sign him for the minimum for 1 year with a team option for the second. And give the guy some minutes!
nikos pats fav gave him lots $$.send him to cali in a leonard deal