Tyler Johnson, Nets Agree to Contract Ahead of NBA Season Restart

Four years after the Brooklyn Nets tried to pry Tyler Johnson away from the Miami Heat, the 28-year-old combo guard has agreed to sign with the club. 

The club has also announced it is waiving guard Theo Pinson. 

Terms of Johnson's deal were not immediately available. 

As ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski noted, this is not the first time the Nets have had interest in Johnson:

The Phoenix Suns waived Johnson on February 9 only a year after acquiring him alongside Wayne Ellington for Ryan Anderson. 

The 2019-20 season has been a relative low point in Johnson's seven-year career as his numbers began to crater to levels he hasn't seen since his rookie season in 2014-2015. 

In 31 games with the Suns this season, Johnson averaged 5.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 38 percent from the field and 28.9 percent from three. 

Brooklyn is hoping it can get him back to his career average of at least 10 points per night as the team prepares for the NBA's restart in Orlando, Florida. With guard Kyrie Irving not expected to participate, ensuring there's added depth in the backcourt was a priority for the Nets. 

To that end, Pinson was averaging 3.6 points and 1.7 assists, making Johnson even a slight upgrade at his current clip. 

The Nets still have Caris Levert, Garrett Temple, Spencer Dinwiddie and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot who can handle the ball and score, which should take some of the pressure off Johnson to begin with. In any case, it's clear Brooklyn feels it can still get the best out of Johnson four years after it first tried acquiring him. 

The Fresno State product has had four months of time off to reset himself and prove he's capable of finding his scoring touch again. If so, the Nets may have found a bargain at a time when the 22 teams taking part in the league's restart are all searching for the best value players on the open market.