What contract comes next for Alize Johnson?
That depends entirely on how he plays on his rookie contract.
Kevin Pritchard believes in giving guys time to develop, as we can see with Ike Anigbogu right now. Two or more seasons is usually par for the course in terms of development time for young Indiana players.
But as explained on the previous slide, Johnson only gets two years before his contract ends, at most. So if he wants a second NBA contract, he will have to impress or show some serious signs of potential over his current deal.
If he gets cut at the end of his first season, that means the Pacers value having $1.4 million in cap space ($700k if Keith Smith is correct) more than having Johnson stick around. If that is the case, then he probably isn’t an NBA player and will not get a second contract.
If he makes it through two seasons, then the options become more wide-ranging. Indiana could let him walk if they don’t think he has earned another deal. If that happens, he likely hasn’t shown much, but he could go pursue a minimum or two-way deal with another team.
The Pacers could also throw him a qualifying offer and make him a restricted free agent. The qualifying offer would be a one-year minimum contract that would send Alize Johnson into restricted free agency. Because he would have two years of experience at that time, he would become subject to the Arenas provision, meaning he could only earn a deal that has an average annual value equal to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which will be around $9.5 million at that time.
The Pacers would have his early bird rights if he makes it through two seasons, so they could sign him to a deal up to four years in length at a starting salary up to 105 percent of the 2019-20 league average NBA salary when the time comes. He probably won’t be worth that much in two seasons, but you never know.
If he is worth that much, he probably won’t draw many offers in restricted free agency since his maximum contract is very limited. That would push other teams away from offering him a deal since it would be likely the Pacers would match. It would be a waste of paperwork and time.
If he isn’t worth that much, then he could either take the qualifying offer and play his third season at the minimum, or he could pursue a deal with another team and see if the Pacers decide to match it or not.
There are tons of possibilities for Johnson after two seasons, but most of the options only open up if he shows signs of being a quality NBA player in his premier seasons. That is yet to be determined.