Nets: 3 Bubble standouts BK must find room for in 2020-21

1. Tyler Johnson

Before you call us hypocrites, allow us to acknowledge that we remember writing about how Tyler Johnson was fooling the Nets in Orlando. However, that wasn’t so much an indictment against his ability as it was about his former contract. For those that don’t remember, Brooklyn offered the then-free agent a four-year, $50 million contract that was ultimately matched by the Miami Heat.

That shortly proved to be a mistake from Miami, as the franchise traded Johnson to the Phoenix Suns the following February. Unfortunately for the 28-year-old point guard, he struggled to carve out a consistent role with Phoenix and was ultimately released a few months back.

Amazingly enough, Johnson landed on his feet with Brooklyn ahead of the NBA restart, and he’s a big reason why the team is playing as well as it is.

In six games (three starts), the Fresno State product has posted 11 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting an exceptional 34.5% on threes. Assuming that Johnson is cool with a role off the bench, the Nets should absolutely consider finding room for him as a backup option behind Kyrie Irving.

We’ve all come a long way. So has Johnson.