Is Amir Johnson a "Keeper"?

[koreancabbage]

Can you explain to me how he is over-paid? I checked some random teams and looked for players with contracts closest to his and I found names like: Boris Diaw, Francisco Garcia, Mike Conley and Brandon Bass. Except for Conley, I think that Amir out-performs most of those guys. Can you explain your thinking?

he outperforms them with the assistance of Calderon. No doubt he is a relentless hard worker Calderon over inflates every single big man's stats not named Bargnani. Then you just have some players who are paid the same but are not as motivated as Amir.

players on bad team syndrome. last time i checked, i don't think you can rule out not using any specific players on this team to scratch out a win. didn't do **** in Detroit but turns out he can contribute on a bad team. consummate role player if he is put in the right spot though.

in my defense, i'm just stating overpaid b/c what real value does he have a good team? He keeps quiet, knows his role, and does what he is told - consummate role player.

[Bob_at_york]

he outperforms them with the assistance of Calderon. No doubt he is a relentless hard worker Calderon over inflates every single big man's stats not named Bargnani. Then you just have some players who are paid the same but are not as motivated as Amir.

Jose helps players by giving them some great passes in the pick and roll. But that doesn't change the fact that Amir has been making long jumpers, some nice sky hooks and has been making nice passes to Ed inside. I don't see how Jose contributes to all of those things and how Amir can't get credit for learning how to do those things well.

players on bad team syndrome. last time i checked, i don't think you can rule out not using any specific players on this team to scratch out a win. didn't do **** in Detroit but turns out he can contribute on a bad team. consummate role player if he is put in the right spot though.

Didn't do **** in Detroit? He was a teenager in Detroit! He was under-sized and was playing on a contender. He has grown a lot since his Piston days.

Also I think you have a different definition of "playing on a bad team syndrome" than I do. I would use that argument when a player has "impressive" stats because of his usage but the player is actually an in-efficient player. I haven't seen Amir's advanced stats but looking at his field goal percentage and his rebounding, I think he is a pretty efficient player so I don't see the "bad team" argument as a credible one.

[Six-8-TheWizard]

Keep him. Apart from his game The guy reps Toronto so hard too

[koreancabbage]

Jose helps players by giving them some great passes in the pick and roll. But that doesn't change the fact that Amir has been making long jumpers, some nice sky hooks and has been making nice passes to Ed inside. I don't see how Jose contributes to all of those things and how Amir can't get credit for learning how to do those things well.


Didn't do **** in Detroit? He was a teenager in Detroit! He was under-sized and was playing on a contender. He has grown a lot since his Piston days.

Also I think you have a different definition of "playing on a bad team syndrome" than I do. I would use that argument when a player has "impressive" stats because of his usage but the player is actually an in-efficient player. I haven't seen Amir's advanced stats but looking at his field goal percentage and his rebounding, I think he is a pretty efficient player so I don't see the "bad team" argument as a credible one.

I'm not a person who is willing to pay market price. Just b/c other players are getting overpaid doesn't justify the overpayment for others (does it?).

you might be right. but hey, its not my money and he's doing well. I still think we could have gotten a smaller deal for him before, though, i'm happy for him. I can imagine all the people here saying weird stuff when Amir misses a long jumper and why he took that shot etc etc etc. He is probably still considered a hustle player in my books.

[Raps08-09 Champ]

That should be his role though, 1st big off the bench.

Yes, but Amir, Davis and Jonas are making a combined $11.5 mil this season (Jonas is still under rookie scale for another 3 years, Davis has 1 left); while Bargs is earning $10 mil on just his OWN. That trio provides better value for dollar than any combination of Bargs + two of them.

I'm not talking about value for dollar in terms of combining him with other players.

There were more than enough people saying from looking at him as an individual (not taking into consideration other people), that he was overpaid for his role and he wasn't any good. His role hasn't changed and his talent and capabilities haven't changed much either.

[pebloemer]

I really like Amir Johnson. He embodies many characteristics that we want to see in our young players. He is reliable, shows his effort on the court and seems to like it hear in Toronto. It really helps that we have seen strong improvements in his game since he was signed. He is a "keeper" in the sense that I have no desire to trade him, but his ceiling is limited enough that I would be willing to if it was the right player(s) coming back in return.

[ink]

I'm not talking about value for dollar in terms of combining him with other players.

There were more than enough people saying from looking at him as an individual (not taking into consideration other people), that he was overpaid for his role and he wasn't any good. His role hasn't changed and his talent and capabilities haven't changed much either.

I never took part in any of those "overpaid" Amir threads because I didn't think his contract was so bad.

[Raps08-09 Champ]

I never took part in any of those "overpaid" Amir threads because I didn't think his contract was so bad.

I didn't mind it myself. I always compared it to Varejao's. A big man off the bench who gives energy and easy points.

[Raps08-09 Champ]

Keep him. Apart from his game The guy reps Toronto so hard too

This. This guy loves Toronto. Probably one of the reasons I wanted him around even when he first signed that contract.

[Jamiecballer]

2 years ago people said Amir was way overpaid and Bargnani was a good deal at 10 million. pretty hard to make that case now.

[rockbottom2010]

u know hes close to his prime...this is the reason why colangelo shouldn't get fired....the one mistake he did was drafting bargnani

[Sanyo]

u know hes close to his prime...this is the reason why colangelo shouldn't get fired....the one mistake he did was drafting bargnani

that draft was horrible though. lamarcus alridge would have been awesome here though.

[Bob_at_york]

I never took part in any of those "overpaid" Amir threads because I didn't think his contract was so bad.

I didn't think it was bad either.

[deaner]

Amir is a keeper IMO. He just does whatever the team needs. The team needs a guy to play center.... Amir goes to the gym and put on 10-15 for his city. He's the polar opposite of a Klieza or Bargnani. I've never thought he was overpaid and have always thought it entertaining people here what to amnesty his contract.

[Kinglorious]

Amir is a proud Raptor during a time when there hasn't been a whole lot to be proud of. Those are the guys you keep around, the fighters. And the same thing goes with Alan Anderson. How many people honestly expected that a 10 day contract dude would wind up and become a huge part of this team? You don't want a team completely made up of role players but you need a few at least -- the ones that just go in and play the game.