Examining Orlando’s Free Agents: Jason Williams & Anthony Johnson
Orlando had some questions marks at the Point Guard position entering the 2009-2010 season.
Jameer Nelson was coming off an ineffective Finals appearance after missing the first three rounds of the playoffs and 40 regular season games in 2009.
The Magic acquired Rafer Alston just before the 2009 trade deadline but sent him to New Jersey in the Vince Carter deal after the season.
Orlando still had Anthony Johnson under contract but he entered last season at 35 years old.
Before this season began, the Magic attempted to trade for C.J. Watson but supposedly couldn’t finalize a deal with the Warriors involving J.J. Redick. Instead, the Magic turned to veteran Jason Williams. Williams, who had some family issues, did not play during the 2008-09 season. He was, however, very familiar with Florida, having spent a year playing for Billy Donovan at the University of Florida and three seasons (2005-08) as the Miami Heat’s starting Point Guard, which included helping Miami to the 2006 NBA Championship. The familiarity didn’t end there. During Williams’ first year in Miami, he was coached by current Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy.
Anthony Johnson remained on the roster as the team’s third Point Guard.
Click below to see Williams and Johnson’s numbers and read about their statuses in regards to their upcoming free agency.
Jason Williams
GP | GS | MPG | PER | PPG | eFG% | TS% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82 | 18 | 20.8 | 12.9 | 6.0 | 54.2% | 55.5% | |
| FT% | TRB% | AST% | TOV% | USG | ORtg | DRtg | WS/48 |
81.3% | 4.3 | 26.9 | 16.4 | 14.5 | 115 | 106 | .127 |
Anthony Johnson
GP | GS | MPG | PER | PPG | eFG% | TS% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 0 | 13.1 | 12.4 | 4.2 | 50.0% | 54.3% | |
| FT% | TRB% | AST% | TOV% | USG | ORtg | DRtg | WS/48 |
95.0% | 6.8 | 24.2 | 17.8 | 16.7 | 110 | 106 | .116 |
Williams was more than solid as a backup, at least early in the season. In fact, he was literally more than a backup. Williams had to make 18 starts with Nelson out after suffering from a torn meniscus. Williams was excellent, leading the Magic to a 14-4 record as a starter. He seemed more calm and collected with the ball – he was a little less flashy but more careful with his passes. At one point during the season, he led the entire league in assist-to turnover ratio (he finished seventh). Despite being more conscious about his play, Williams still managed to push the tempo and provide a nice change-of-pace from Jameer Nelson. Williams even provided a scoring pop when needed as evidenced by a 16-point performance November 22nd in Toronto against the Raptors followed by a 25-point game in their next game, November 25th against the Miami Heat. Often times, Orlando’s second unit would either take the lead or stretch the Magic lead to double digits.
Unfortunately, in addition to some problems on the defensive end, Williams inevitably broke down in the postseason. He played just 13.7 minutes per game and although a lot of that had do with the outstanding performance of Jameer Nelson, it also had a lot to do with Williams’ poor play. He posted an effective field goal percentage of 42.1% and averaged just 2.6 points and 1.6 assists per game.
It’s hard to evaluate Johnson’s performance because he played in only 31 games, did not make a start and played just 13.1 minutes per game, but Johnson did have pretty good per-36 numbers. In fact, he improved in almost every area from last season, but his sample size was much smaller – he played over a thousand more minutes during the 2008-2009 season.
As for their free agency, I don’t really see either player returning to Orlando next season unless they want to again play for the league minimum and be the third string point guard.
Before last season, Williams wasn’t the ideal option – he wasn’t the Magic’s last resort but he certainly wasn’t their first choice.
That’s not to say Williams wasn’t effective or didn’t have a good season. He did, but the Magic wanted to get younger at the position before last season and the now 34-year old Williams doesn’t seem to fit the bill.
As for some other options, Watson is once again a restricted Free Agent so it’s quite possible the Magic will attempt to pry him away from the Warriors again. Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel believes the Magic will look for a point guard in the draft but Alex Kennedy of Hoops World says the Magic will be working out mostly wing players in preparation for the draft.
Either way, I’d expect the Magic to have a much younger backup Point Guard next season.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page and on Sir Charles In Charge. Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).