If Bought Out, Should Hawks Pursue Joe Johnson?
There is no question that the Atlanta Hawks need help on the wing. With options few and far between in terms of available game changers at that position, could the team kick the tires on a familiar face?
On Tuesday, Sporting News reported that the Brooklyn Nets could be looking into buying out the remainder of Joe Johnson‘s contract if he can’t be moved by the trade deadline. Since Johnson is due around $14M for the remainder of the season, a team would have to be able to absorb that amount into their cap, or make the salaries match in the players they send Brooklyn’s way. And since the Nets are looking to shed salary, I doubt they will take on anything in a deal without a first round pick being involved, which is a high price to pay considering Johnson is in the final year of his deal.
With that being said, the chances of Joe Johnson being bought out are a lot higher than him being moved at the deadline. In the case of a buyout, Johnson can sign with any team he wants since he would be a free agent. He’ll likely want to sign with a contender and a team that is poised to make a deep playoff run just like every player in his situation would do.
Enter the Atlanta Hawks.
The Hawks need help on the wing as the trio of Kyle Korver, Kent Bazemore and Thabo Sefolosha, while serviceable, haven’t been what the team has expected them to be to this point. Korver has essentially lost the ability to shoot the ball over the last few games and Thabo Sefolosha is a role player at best, better suited coming off the bench. Kent Bazemore has been a bright spot but he too has dealt with injuries and can be both wild and inconsistent at times.
The addition of a player like Joe Johnson would not only stabilize the rotation, but would give Coach Bud another versatile player that can play multiple positions and who has the ability to guard both Lebron James and Jimmy Butler, two players that the Hawks are sure to see come playoff time if they were to get out of the first round. Johnson isn’t the player that Hawks’ fans remember from his time here in Atlanta and the sheer fact that the Nets would be willing to buy him out tells you all you need to know about his production compared to his contract, but he’s an upgrade over what we have now behind those three aforementioned players and is still a better defender than any of them even at this point in his career.
On paper, it would be a good fit for both Johnson and the Hawks as he wouldn’t be asked to play 30+ minutes a night, he would fit well into the system and he could focus more on the defensive side of the ball which is where the Hawks need him come playoff time. He’s still a guy who can score the basketball from anywhere on the court but only in spurts, which is fine, because the Hawks don’t really have trouble scoring the ball on most nights.
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But as we all know, the real world is much different than a world on paper. First and foremost, Johnson would have to see the Hawks as a team that could give him a chance at a title and he would have to hold no hard feelings with the organization that traded him just a few seasons ago. But the man who orchestrated the trade, Danny Ferry, isn’t with the team anymore and the lure of playing with old friends Al Horford and Jeff Teague could be enough to sway him to come back to Atlanta.
This is the NBA and things like this are volatile. The Nets could decide to hold onto Johnson and just ride it out, or a team could find enough assets and cap space to pull off a trade before the deadline (the Cavs have a huge trade exception and a piece or two the Nets could want). Johnson could decide that playing with a superstar like Kevin Durant or Lebron James is more attractive than with a more well balanced team like the Hawks. Or, the Hawks may decide to stand pat with the roster they currently have like last year. But we all saw how that worked out for them as the bench was depleted due to injuries in that Cavs series.
Either way, if the Nets do decide to buyout Johnson, the Hawks should make a call.