That didn't take long for Amir

Just finishing up some Canada Day family stuff here in time to get the call that the Raptors have taken a step to solidifying their front court.

Am told that Amir Johnson, who had a breakout season last season, has agreed in principle to a five-year deal that approaches $34 million in total value.

Just a quick hit now, it has to come as no surprise to anyone that he's re-signed and we'll have some more in a little bit.

Comments

[coachd]

This is a good move by the raps. Johnson proved himself last year. He plays with a lot of grit. Something that this team needs. I'm sure there is more to come...

[Avinash]

Fantastic news. Good to see it in ink! Thanks Doug!

[Marc Douris]

Great to see Amir re-up with the Raptors, I look forward to cheering on his hustle and strong work ethic. On a side note, The Score is reporting that the Raptors are one of the teams on Amar'e Staudamire's list of teams to meet with. Any truth to this? I don't see how we could manage to get Amar'e?

[Mark]

That's good...That frontcourt of Turk, Bargs,and Johnson looked strong to finish the season

[Nick]

I like Amir, but nearly $7 mil a year for an energy guy is a little steep.

[RapsFan]

I think more like 25 million over 5 years would have been more appropriate.

[Pipit]

Doug, do you think that's too much based on Amir's talent?

Blogger's note: A bit high at first blush but we don't know for sure how much is guaranteed and other details.

[Jamie S]

Should be enough to convince CB4 to re-up, right? Right?

[Pipit]

Coach Thorpe from ESPN said 34 million for Amir is just straight ridiculous.

[doug]

I like it as Amir is a valuable guy and numbers are numbers, its all in comparables...if Darko is getting 20 over 4 years and Gooden 32 over 5 then I have no problem with it as out of those 3 I'd prefer Amir by far....people get caught up in lump sum numbers, and equate it to our getting that...its all irrelevant its market value that dictates each year...plus don't listen to "experts" opinions yesterday it was a so-called "expert" at ESPN that said Bosh in Miami was a done deal...so much for that...

[Joe]

I'm glad to see Amir has resigned but that is a lot of money. Perhaps other teams were involved and made him a similar offer? Nonetheless, he's only 23 so his best years are here to come. Who knows, maybe a few years down the road, we might be saying that he's a bargain.

[Daoud]

So is max money for Joe Johnson. $44 million for John Salmons. $35 million for Drew Gooden. $30 million for Mike Miller. $20 million for Darko Milicic. The list will go on and on and on this offseason.

[Jc]

Any instant thoughts? Too much? Just right? Wait till 2013 to decide?

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=612860564]

I think it's good that BC signed him. He'll probably move Jose to free up the cash. Who knows about Turk. I think keeping the young guys in tact is good for the chemistry of the team. Amir wants to be here and seems to have created a bond with Sonny, DD, and Jack.

[Cory]

Coach Thorpe can kiss our collective butts. Amir is a stud and will once again prove that the fine folks at ESPN are idiots.

[Bball]

Amir's a good player but 34 Million is way too much money. Once again the Raps overpay for a player. 25 Million would be the max for a role player like Amir.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Amir coming back is A+ news, and worth every nickel. The way he grabs passes and rebounds in traffic – the guy's got Velcro fingertips. He also seems to have a fighter's (or at least a winner's) mentality. When he gets his footwork going to start matching the rest of his skills, he'll be logging big-time minutes. Good start, BCo! Cheers.

[Dave]

$34 mil for Johnson?! He's a nice piece, sure, but that's way over paying for a guy who should be coming off your bench. We'll regret this deal in a couple of years.

[Joey]

If that is the case, we're probably paying him just under 6 million this year.. that is reasonable considering he may be starting and giving us alot of hustle minutes, and seeing as how young he is, who knows what kind of bargain this COULD turn out to be. I've stopped listening to "Coach Thorpe" a long time ago.

[jesse solomon]

I was looking over Amir's stats and he averaged 6.4 ppg and 4.8 rpg. I once heard that "potential and a quarter will get you a phone call", only problem is a phone call now costs 50 cents but luckily we have a quarter leftover from the Turkoglu signing. At almost 7 million dollars per year, this signing will make him the 4th highest paid Raptor on the team (Andrea, Calderon and Turk the only ones making more). I wonder how Triano plans to give Davis his minutes when we have 5 players who all play the same position (PF- Johnson, Andrea, Davis, Alabi, Evans), but, not to worry, we can always let Andrea continue to play his unnatural position at center. You know- the position where Andrea averaged a shade above 6 rpg (he was closer to averaging the same amount of rebounds as Turkoglu, a SF, then he was to Chris Bosh). So, I guess we'll see if Amir's game blossoms and he miraculously earns his 7 million dollars per year (which is even more ridiculous considering how teams are more conscious of giving long term, expensive deals to players in these economic times) OR we use that 50 cents to make a phone call, but then... we'll be out of money.

[Mike]

That's another instance of pretty serious overpayment. I love Amir, as (I'm sure) do most fans, but he is 50% hustle and heart and 50% unproven potential - and $7MM/year is a lot to pay for potential.

[The J]

Hmm...Mixed emotions on this one. Amir was the person that I was most concerned with losing after Bosh. And as I began to accept that CB4 was as good as gone, I became more concerned with Amir. So from that perspective this is great. My concern, however, is with the price. I thought he was going to be more like 5 mil per for 3 not close to 7 per for 5. Whenever I see Colangelo give out contracts that are higher than I expected I wonder who was he bidding against? I had this thought when he re-upped Jose and Bargs. Was anyone out there going to give them that money? If not why give them so much? So Doug I ask this question to you now, do you know if anyone else was going after Amir? Do you think anyone else was or would have given him something comparable?

[Jeff]

Unbelievable. I assume this is because Colangelo is required to give out stupid expensive contracts every summer. How many guys around the league has he overpaid -- ridiculous.

[EddieK]

And I would agree with Coach Thorpe

[jon]

Did they have to use the Mid Level Exception to sign him?

Blogger's note: No