Hypothetical: Joe Johnson

[sturt]

What if

(a) Joe Johnson gets bought out by the Nets (ie, the same Nets who said they were not considering buying out Deron Williams),

(b) we end up with an open roster slot, having made some some other transaction, and

(c) he indicated he'd like to return to ATL and is willing to come off the bench.

He's, of course, having a rotten season, but do you think that's got something to do with who he's playing for... would you pick him up on a team-friendly contract?

I ask because none of those if's seem all that far-flung.

 

[capstone21]

Joe has lost a step or two or three but I like his skill set.

He is a good passer and ball handler ... when playing well he has a nice jumper and he has a very underrated post game.  His d has also taken a step back but he use to be a decent defender.   He has a high bbiq and could be an asset to our bench.  

I would take him if he had gotten released and was interested in returning.   I figure he would go somewhere like the Cavs to try to get a ring.  He has always wanted to play with Lebron.

[cam1218]

I would also love to have Joe back. He will bring us a lot of qualities that we need and (more importantly) things Bud likes.

His size at the 3 will help, his ball handling and passing will fit into our offense, Joe will get us a couple of boards and his experience making shots will help take pressure off of our guards. I bet his shooting would improve between the open looks he will get and a new found enthusiasm playing for a winning team. His D isn't what it once was, but having his size will go a long way for us.

[pimp]

iI'd pass..
I'd rather give that playing time to THJ.
Joe is having a terrible year .
Scoring 11ppg on 36% shooting , while playing nearly 35 mpg 
You would just be getting more of what we're getting from Kyle right now.
 

[AHF]

I would definitely pick him up on a cheap deal.  We need all the help we can get on the wings and if he doesn't work out you can just cut him.  His 36% shooting looks good compared to THJr's 25%.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, AHF said:

I would definitely pick him up on a cheap deal.  We need all the help we can get on the wings and if he doesn't work out you can just cut him.  His 36% shooting looks good compared to THJr's 25%.

I think it's totally unfair to look at THJr's shooting nimbers considering the spotty minutes he's gotten.  Can't possibly be in any kind of rhythm.  You're better than that, AHF.

I've thought all along that JoeJohn would be a great fit for this team/system.  Wonder if either side would be too prideful to make it hap'n?

[AHF]

16 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I think it's totally unfair to look at THJr's shooting nimbers considering the spotty minutes he's gotten.  Can't possibly be in any kind of rhythm.  You're better than that, AHF.

I've thought all along that JoeJohn would be a great fit for this team/system.  Wonder if either side would be too prideful to make it hap'n?

THJr shot like crap last year too.  38.9%.   I've noted the lack of minutes in other places and don't think he can continue to be 25% bad but will he be any improvement on what JJ is doing?  THJr's ts% last season is worse than anything JJ has put up since he arrived in Atlanta and moved on to the Nets.  This year, I think both JJ and THJr are likely to rebound in their shooting %s.

[pimp]

1 hour ago, AHF said:

I would definitely pick him up on a cheap deal.  We need all the help we can get on the wings and if he doesn't work out you can just cut him.  His 36% shooting looks good compared to THJr's 25%.

There is no real point in adding him. Joe Johnson  playing on his last leg wont get us over any hump.
He would most likely go to Cleveland or the Clippers.

Off topic.. isn't funny how everyone want to play with the cavs and clippers now? They use to be worse than the Hawks a drawing free agents.
I guess having someone everyone wants to play with (Lebron) or play for (Rivers) is the easiest way to recruit players now.



 

[sturt]

If anyone was going to upset that theory, it would seem to be someone who was the franchise icon.

And, too, someone can correct me on this (I'm too lazy to go look it up), but I'm pretty sure we can offer a full room exception, whereas the Cavs can only do a minimum veteran contract at this point.

[pimp]

50 minutes ago, sturt said:

If anyone was going to upset that theory, it would seem to be someone who was the franchise icon.

And, too, someone can correct me on this (I'm too lazy to go look it up), but I'm pretty sure we can offer a full room exception, whereas the Cavs can only do a minimum veteran contract at this point.

Yes, but the Cavs can offer him the Nba finals...
Joe is making a ton a money this year no matter what happens. I doubt a few extra dollars from the Hawks ,would keep him from jumping on Lebron's bandwagon

[sturt]

@pimp, you're presuming something I'm not willing to concede... ie, that we're a fluke 2014-15 team that can't possibly compete for the Finals in 2015-16. 
 

It's just January. There's a LOT of basketball yet to be played.

[pimp]

2 minutes ago, sturt said:

@pimp, you're presuming something I'm not willing to concede... ie, that we're a fluke 2014-15 team that can't possibly compete for the Finals in 2015-16. 
 

It's just January. There's a LOT of basketball yet to be played.

I never said anything about a flute, but the Cavs swept the Hawks, and went to the Nba finals.
The Hawks couldn't win a single game even though they were without Love ...and Kyrie. Love is playing much better this season than last.
Lebron has gone to the finals at least 5 times in a row. 
Last but not least , Joe was booed very loudly when he returned to Atlanta, Pretty much every time he touched the ball.
What makes playing here, more attractive for Joe than playing with the Cavs?

[macdaddy]

16 minutes ago, sturt said:

@pimp, you're presuming something I'm not willing to concede... ie, that we're a fluke 2014-15 team that can't possibly compete for the Finals in 2015-16. 
 

It's just January. There's a LOT of basketball yet to be played.

Well doesn't matter what any of us believe, it's who Joe believes will be competing for the Finals.   I can guarantee he'll side with Lebron.  Don't think they need him though.

[sturt]

I would modify that slightly @macdaddy... it's who Joe believes he can (a) contribute something to, that (b) has a role awaiting him, and that (c) he also thinks can compete for the finals.

We could venture down that same worn path, @pimp,  that everyone did immediately after we lost (what was the explanation for losing, and losing that badly), but I'm on the side that says a much different result would have occurred were our first five guys not having to play through injuries--Teague's ankle, Kyle's elbow, Carroll's knee, Millsap's shoulder, Horf's pinky finger on his shooting hand. We can agree that we needed all hands on deck to compete with CLE, but where we disagree is that I believe our full strength was better than their full strength. We'll never know, unfortunately, but there's certainly evidence from the season that supports that, just as I know you'll point to evidence that says it wouldn't have been... again, we'll never know.

As for boo-ing him... I don't think many athletes these days are quite so shallow. Maybe some. Most understand it's a game, and that the fans side with their home team and even to the point of being obnoxious about it. That's a given. Now if there was some concern that he would be boo-ed upon returning... Josh for instance might have that concern... then I might abandon the idea. But the vast majority, imo, would feel some appreciation for a guy like him wanting to return to ATL to be part of a push before he hangs it up.

And so, yeah, I don't predict this will happen, but as said at the top, none of the "ifs" are too much to believe.

[pimp]

50 minutes ago, sturt said:

I would modify that slightly @macdaddy... it's who Joe believes he can (a) contribute something to, that (b) has a role awaiting him, and that (c) he also thinks can compete for the finals.

We could venture down that same worn path, @pimp, but I'm on the side that says a much different result would have occurred were our first five guys not having to play through injuries--Teague's ankle, Kyle's elbow, Carroll's knee, Millsap's shoulder, Horf's pinky finger on his shooting hand. We can agree that we needed all hands on deck to compete with CLE, but where we disagree is that I believe our full strength was better than their full strength. We'll never know, unfortunately, but there's certainly evidence from the season that supports that, just as I know you'll point to evidence that says it wouldn't have been... again, we'll never know.

As for boo-ing him... I don't think many athletes these days are quite so shallow. Maybe some. Most understand it's a game, and that the fans side with their home team and even to the point of being obnoxious about it. That's a given. Now if there was some concern that he would be boo-ed upon returning... Josh for instance might have that concern... then I might abandon the idea. But the vast majority, imo, would feel some appreciation for a guy like him wanting to return to ATL to be part of a push before he hangs it up.

And so, yeah, I don't predict this will happen, but as said at the top, none of the "ifs" are too much to believe.

Yes, we had guys that weren't
 100% but they  were able to play. The Cavs beat us with Lebron and backups.
If Sap was 100% , we might have won a game, but im not even sure about that, as the team didn't even look the good vs the Nets.
 They improved their debth by signing Mo Williams and getting Varjao back.
We lost DMC and nothing the Hawks did this off season , seems to have  improved our team.
Our defense this year has been worse without DMC and his 3 points shooting wasn't replaced.

We only have one game to go on this season.
Kyrie, Mo, and Mozgov were out
Bazemore was out.
They beat us 109 -97 and lead by 15 at halftime.
They destroyed us on the boards .. Love had 19 rebs

As who Joe believes is a championship contender ...
Do you really think Joe would believe that he has a better chance  at a championship ,by playing with Horford and Teague again , than playing with Lebron?..who has 2 rings
And he would probably start at sg , over Jr. Smith .So they have a role for him.

Edited January 6, 2016 by pimp

[TheFuzz]

I would welcome his skillset on the cheap, but his ballpounding habits would need to go and that's kind of a tough sell in the middle of the season. I'd still take him though, always liked his game and his cool demeanor, just hated the contract.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Bring JJ back?  Hmmm.

How would the fan base that still boos him when he comes back to Philips, feel about that?

As for me, I'd be for him coming back, but I don't know if it would help the team.

Joe still has good court vision, and could be a point forward off the bench.  Defensively though, he's a lot like Korver these days.

 

[BigDog90]

I doubt he'd sign with the Hawks. He'd sign with the Cavs, Spurs or Warriors before the Hawks.

[MaceCase]

Doc, Paul, Smoove and Woody would hold Joe hostage in his house, disconnect his landline, yank out his router and throw out his cells' sim cards waiting for him to sign a contract with them the moment they heard he was waived.  It worked with Deandre and they can continue to have the largest collection of useless bignames on a single roster.

[pimp]

1 hour ago, MaceCase said:

Doc, Paul, Smoove and Woody would hold Joe hostage in his house, disconnect his landline, yank out his router and throw out his cells' sim cards waiting for him to sign a contract with them the moment they heard he was waived.  It worked with Deandre and they can continue to have the largest collection of useless bignames on a single roster.

That wouldn't work on Joe, because he has a secret weapon that Deandre doesn't have.
That's the abilty to continuously dribble and pound a basketball until he makes everyone fall asleep.Then all he'd have to do is climb over the wall or bricks
that Smoove left , and make his escape to Cleveland.