Johnson cut but may be headed to DLeague

Ira Winderman writes:

Facing a 5 p.m. Monday deadline to reduce their roster to a maximum of 15 players, the Miami Heat on Thursday released rookie guards Tyler Johnson and Larry Drew and Hialeah-born forward Shawn Jones.

The moves leave the Heat with 16 players on their preseason roster.

Of the players released Thursday, Johnson was the most intriguing.

Johnson, who went undrafted out of Fresno State in June, impressed the Heat with his athletic play during summer league to the degree that they offered him a $75,000 guarantee to attend training camp.

Held out of the the Heat's first five exhibitions, Johnson made the most of his lone preseason opportunity when, with Dwyane Wade being held out during Saturday's overtime road victory against the San Antonio Spurs, he scored 17 points off the bench. He then was held out of Tuesday's preseason victory over the Houston Rockets.

As with all players released from their training-camp roster, the Heat can designate Johnson for assignment to their NBA Development League team. It then remains up to Johnson to decide whether to accept the assignment to the Sioux Falls Skyforce...