Joe Johnson Turns Down Extension Offer From the Atlanta Hawks

[Roca Dolla]

Say it ain't so, Joe. According to reports, Joe Johnson has turned down the Atlanta Hawks offer of a contract extension believed to be for four years and $60 million. Johnson will be one of the marquee unrestricted free agents in the much heralded 2010 NBA free agent extravaganza starting on July 1st.

Listen, I think Johnson is one of the Top 20 players in the NBA and his all around basketball game makes him one of the best shooting guards. He is at a level just a notch below Kobe and D-Wade.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...s-down-extension-offer-from-the-atlanta-hawks
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[Ronin]

I wonder where he will end up? New York?

 

[Covert Rain]

That is actually huge. It also probably speaks to Joe's confidence that the Hawks will ever make enough moves to get it done.

I would be all for the Suns shedding salary cap space between now and then in attempt to bring Joe back. Then again I doubt the Suns would take on that huge contract and keep Amare around. Just don't see both happening.

However, if I had to pick between a guy who can play defense and one that occasionally does....give me the guy who plays defense.

 

[boisesuns]

sign joe let amare walk

 

[Covert Rain]

sign joe let amare walk

We always talk about starting with a good defensive foundation. That would be a good start to get back here somehow.

 

[hsandhu]

Somehow I don't see joe playing for robert sarver again.

 

[slinslin]

sign joe let amare walk

That would be incredibly stupid.

And Joe Johnson is clearly more than a notch below Kobe and Wade. He is roughly the same level as J-Rich when both are the first option.

Top 20 player is definately a stretch and he is 28 by now as well... It was a mistake to let him go, now it is too late to get him back, especially for the money he wants.

 

[mojorizen7]

That would be incredibly stupid.

And Joe Johnson is clearly more than a notch below Kobe and Wade. He is roughly the same level as J-Rich when both are the first option.

Top 20 player is definately a stretch and he is 28 by now as well... It was a mistake to let him go, now it is too late to get him back, especially for the money he wants.

I've got to disagree with you there Slin.
In terms of finishing around the rim in traffic and displaying some "touch" JJ is much better than JRich.
I would also claim that JJ has more of a mid-range game.
He's also a much better one-on-one defender.

 

[overseascardfan]

I wonder where he will end up? New York?

If he believes the Hawks aren't going anywhere, NY makes no sense. This might sound crazy but maybe he goes to SA. Ginobili is a FA at the end of the year and they aren't extending him, maybe they throw that money to Joe, maybe a little less in return for the opportunity at a ring and a chance to play with Duncan and Tony Parker.

 

[Covert Rain]

That would be incredibly stupid.

Top 20 player is definately a stretch and he is 28 by now as well... It was a mistake to let him go, now it is too late to get him back, especially for the money he wants.

A stretch? You are way off brother. Joe Johnson is to defense what Amare is to offense. When given the choice of an offensive player or a defensive player...you always go defense if all things are equal. I would personally lean towards Joe if given a choice. The only thing that would complicate my decision is that big men are commodity in the NBA and you just can't give them up. If we could find a shut down PF and trade that player for Amare it's a no brainer....you trade Amare in a heartbeat.

Back to Joe. Atlanta as a team ranked #4 in overall defense from the SG position. Joe also had one of the lowest Opponent PERs in the entire NBA. He is one of the best defenders from that position in the league. Now add that he can fill it up for you on any given night. It's not that much of a stretch.

Joe might be a tier lower then Kobe or Wade but you won't get any closer to a tier 1 player then Joe without trading for one of those guys. My preference would be to keep Amare, Barbosa, Dudley, Clark and add Joe. Trade or dump everyone else.

P.S. You had better hope you get a center who can rebound to play along side Amare or keeping Amare becomes a lost cause. If this preseason is any indication, we are about to find out how bad a combination of Amare's rebounding and defense hurt this team more then what he give us on the offensive end.

 

[mojorizen7]

Joe might be a tier lower then Kobe or Wade but you won't get any closer to a tier 1 player then Joe without trading for one of those guys. My preference would be to keep Amare, Barbosa, Dudley, Clark and add Joe. Trade or dump everyone else.

 

[krazyasiankid]

A stretch? You are way off brother. Joe Johnson is to defense what Amare is to offense. When given the choice of an offensive player or a defensive player...you always go defense if all things are equal. I would personally lean towards Joe if given a choice. The only thing that would complicate my decision is that big men are commodity in the NBA and you just can't give them up. If we could find a shut down PF and trade that player for Amare it's a no brainer....you trade Amare in a heartbeat.

Back to Joe. Atlanta as a team ranked #4 in overall defense from the SG position. Joe also had one of the lowest Opponent PERs in the entire NBA. He is one of the best defenders from that position in the league. Now add that he can fill it up for you on any given night. It's not that much of a stretch.

Joe might be a tier lower then Kobe or Wade but you won't get any closer to a tier 1 player then Joe without trading for one of those guys. My preference would be to keep Amare, Barbosa, Dudley, Clark and add Joe. Trade or dump everyone else.

P.S. You had better hope you get a center who can rebound to play along side Amare or keeping Amare becomes a lost cause. If this preseason is any indication, we are about to find out how bad a combination of Amare's rebounding and defense hurt this team more then what he give us on the offensive end.

This would've been so much easier if Sarver just gave JJ the FKING 5 MORE MIL HE WANTED. We might've even ogt a championship by now..

 

[mojorizen7]

bump:

How sweet would it be to see the reunion of Nash,JJ & Amare next season?
Minus D'Antoni's 7 man rotation,ignorance of defense,stubborn arrogance etc...

Realistically(well,nothing of this scenario is realistic) but i doubt that Nash & JJ could co-exist in the backcourt at this point anyway....not enough dribbles to go around.....and Nash isn't going away.

Interestingly they both made about the same about of $$$ this season.

 

[krazyasiankid]

bump:

How sweet would it be to see the reunion of Nash,JJ & Amare next season?
Minus D'Antoni's 7 man rotation,ignorance of defense,stubborn arrogance etc...

Realistically(well,nothing of this scenario is realistic) but i doubt that Nash & JJ could co-exist in the backcourt at this point anyway....not enough dribbles to go around.....and Nash isn't going away.

Interestingly they both made about the same about of $$$ this season.

Not just Nash and JJ, but what happens to J-Rich? Does he move to the 3 nd we play a small line-up? Or does he move to the bench as a 6th man, while trading away Barbs? I miss me my JJ

 

[HooverDam]

Some stupid team who shed a bunch of cap space to try to get LeBron or whoever is going to end up way over paying for Joe Johnson and be a nice team that makes the playoffs but doesn't really go anywhere. Maybe the Bulls if they don't get Wade.

Or the Nets might be a good fit, he could be the star there like he is in Atlanta plus its a bigger market, and they'll again have a high pick and a late 1st rounder from Dallas. I doubt any real big names go there and they'll be looking to do something splashy as they try to move to Brooklyn. In fact I could imagine a scenario where both Amare and JJ go there and re-unite.

C Lopez
PF Amare
SF Yi
SG Johnson
PG Harris

Plus Chris Douglas Roberts, and 2 first rounders and maybe another small FA, that would certainly be a playoff team and the leagues biggest turn around maybe ever.

 

[elindholm]

In fact I could imagine a scenario where both Amare and JJ go there and re-unite.

What makes you think either of them has any interest in reuniting? Johnson left the Suns because he was unhappy with his role on the floor. The whole thing about feeling "disrespected" by management is an alibi. They offered to match his huge contract offer from Atlanta and he begged them to let him leave.

 

[mojorizen7]

What makes you think either of them has any interest in reuniting? Johnson left the Suns because he was unhappy with his role on the floor. The whole thing about feeling "disrespected" by management is an alibi. They offered to match his huge contract offer from Atlanta and he begged them to let him leave.

I agree completely but i don't think Joe's stupid. He may want to be the man but i doubt he wants to play with a bunch of scrubs in order to be the lone goto guy. I would bet he'd be willing to play with another dominant frontcourt player(like an Amare,Bosh,KG,D.Howard etc..).

My guess is that playing next to a Nash,Wade,CP3,Kobe type would be a situation he would prefer to avoid.

They have a nice core there in Atlanta but there could be other reasons Joe is unhappy there....i don't know.

I honestly wish there was a scenario where we could unload our starting backcourt and make room for signing JJ next season to refocus our team around him and Amare,along with some of our other younger players.

 

[Bufalay]

What makes you think either of them has any interest in reuniting? Johnson left the Suns because he was unhappy with his role on the floor. The whole thing about feeling "disrespected" by management is an alibi. They offered to match his huge contract offer from Atlanta and he begged them to let him leave.

Yeah, but his role on the floor was to stand in the corner or play backup PG. That was because of Nash, not Amare.

 

[HooverDam]

What makes you think either of them has any interest in reuniting? Johnson left the Suns because he was unhappy with his role on the floor. The whole thing about feeling "disrespected" by management is an alibi. They offered to match his huge contract offer from Atlanta and he begged them to let him leave.

What makes you think they wouldn't want to be re-united? In Phx JJ was the 4th option behind Nash, Amare and Marion. If he and Amare went to NJ they'd be the top 2 options and JJ would be the top perimeter option.

 

[Chaplin]

I thought JJ had a problem with Amare at the time, or was that Marion? I don't remember, but I remember that a few months before the season ended, there was some kind of feud between JJ and (I thought) Amare.

 

[cly2tw]

I thought JJ had a problem with Amare at the time, or was that Marion? I don't remember, but I remember that a few months before the season ended, there was some kind of feud between JJ and (I thought) Amare.

He explicitly said that he was fed up to play as Nash's decoy in the corner. I however did remember that he rarely passed to Amare in his last season, understandably so as it was his contract year and he needed the stats. Later, JJ supposedly recruited Amare in the summer with big rumors ended with KG going to Celtics. So, they should be fine with each other.

 

[cly2tw]

I agree completely but i don't think Joe's stupid. He may want to be the man but i doubt he wants to play with a bunch of scrubs in order to be the lone goto guy. I would bet he'd be willing to play with another dominant frontcourt player(like an Amare,Bosh,KG,D.Howard etc..).

My guess is that playing next to a Nash,Wade,CP3,Kobe type would be a situation he would prefer to avoid.

They have a nice core there in Atlanta but there could be other reasons Joe is unhappy there....i don't know.

I honestly wish there was a scenario where we could unload our starting backcourt and make room for signing JJ next season to refocus our team around him and Amare,along with some of our other younger players.

Sorry, but KG is no longer dominant.

 

[HooverDam]

Also if JJ and Amare did have issues with each other, that was years ago. I think they'd be able to move past whatever it was by now, especially if it meant being able to team up together in a huge media market and be on a real good team.

 

[cly2tw]

Also if JJ and Amare did have issues with each other, that was years ago. I think they'd be able to move past whatever it was by now, especially if it meant being able to team up together in a huge media market and be on a real good team.

Actually, in that scenario, NJ would be perfect for them.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Actually, in that scenario, NJ would be perfect for them.

Except that NJ only has 23M available. Not enough to sign them both without some sort of S&T. Neither will accept less money.