I know this isn't the best source, but bskball.com is reporting that the Miami Heat will not sign Ken Johnson, instead that he may go to Europe, but it is said that he can be had in a trade. The 2 win Miami Heat admit they will not be signing 2001 draft selection Ken Johnson, rather he will head to Europe to groom his game, but the Heat say they will explore what they can land in trade. The Heat hold a $3.3 million trade exception and are shopping for a Small Forward, a name being mentioned is Rodney Rogers of the Phoenix Suns, who has been on the outs with the team. The Heat have avoided talk of adding more to their roster, out of fear of the luxury tax, but the attendance struggles the team had prior to dropping 11 games and looking a the lottery, have been multiplied and its time to see a change. The Heat are not expected to trigger anything immediately as the market for trades really begins on Dec 15th, when players signed over the summer can be traded. Ken Johnson was one of the players I was hoping the Rockets could land in the draft. Who could the Rockets trade to get KJ? It is said they are looking for SF, and the Rockets happen to have a couple. What do ya'll think?
Nice post Jared. But, why don't we merge your thread with this thread, since we're talking about the same thing? http://bbs.clutchcity.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25466
i wouldn't trade walt for an unproven rook who may need a year in europe. i would give up langhi (who wants to get traded).
If Walt's contract is up at the end of this year, I'd certainly want to hang onto him. I would certainly like to see what this kid has if it only costs us Langhi. He was high on a lot of team's lists from what I remember.
How about similar talent to Cato without most of the baggage? If we could get Johnson for Langhi, especialy with our PF/C situation, I'd do it in a second. Having watched Johnson for 4 years with the Bucks, I'd think long and hard about Johnson for Williams straight up if that was an option. Obviously for cap reasons its not. But I think Johnson and Griffin together at PF/C 4 or 5 years down the road would be awfully nice. Johnson backing up 4/5 would work too if he isn't as good as I think he will someday be.
I agree with Raven Lunatic,getting Ken Johnson for Langhi would a good idea.Langhi wants to get playing time,but Riley doesn't like having too many inexperienced players,so I doubt he would agree to it.
Why would you want a guy that a 2-win team will not sign? He's a 2nd-round pick that a 2-win team doesn't even want. Why are we talking about this?
The Heat/Riley didn't want Anthony Mason either. In spite of Johnson's upside - strong work ethic, good hands, shoot blocking abilities, he is somewhat of a duplication of Cato. And he might take minutes from EG at C & PF. Bottomline is this. The Heat are over the Luxury Tax level and an unsigned Johnson is not a cap hit. In any kind of trade, even Langhi's meager contract would cost the Heat $1M. Walt would effectively cost them $10M. ($5M contract +$5M LT penalty). Unfortunately for those concerned, Johnson and the Heat are largely impacted by Zo's health. KJ would look good in Rockets red with some combination of the following: 1) Cato were traded 2) Willis retires (this is his last contract year) 3) Collier returns and provides some outside shooting
definetely confused with Ervin Johnson. Kevin Johnson, although he has similar style of play as Ervin Johnson, is not NBA material. He couldn't even get a shot off in college so long in the pros. He also had a nice guard combination in college (redd) and he still could not produce. WE have enough talent waiting to develop on this team (Griffin, Tmo, even Franchise) to go after another project.
OK, it is Ken Johnson I am talking about and apparently you guys have not seen much of the guy, which is completely understandable. I am a huge Buckeye basketball fan so I saw a whole lot of Ken Johnson during his four years on the court. Ken Johnson is a decent rebounder. Not good, just decent because he finds himself out of position for rebounding quite often when he is attempting to block shots. Ken Johnson is an incredible shot blocker. Think a slightly taller Eddie Griffin when it comes to blocking shots. He has that natural instinct that the great shotblockers have. Ken Johnson is slightly foul prone. Not bad for a shot blocking big man, but he will get his share. Ken Johnson is not a scorer. He does not have a scorer's mentality. When he had Redd and Penn on his team, he scored less than 10 a game even though he played 30+ minutes. When he was the lone senior on his team without any other proven scoring threats, he upped that to about 14-15 I think, but was definitely not a scorer. Ken Johnson is a solid shooter, shoots a good percentage, stays within 10-15 ft with his shot, has a nice little hook shot that works well. But, on a team with other scorers, he will clean the glass, score on putbacks and be a guy that has to be accounted for but will not demand the ball. Ken Johnson at the NBA level can be a perfect roleplayer for a team with a guard dominated scoring offense. He is not and will never be a superstar, but he can be similar to dale davis maybe with a little more shotblocking ability. or Kelvin Cato with effort every night. That is why people might be interested in him. He can play the same role Cato does (or should) but wouldn't impede Griffin because I expect Griffin to be more of a scorer in the post. That's my opinion anyways
If Johnson has good hands, he's not a duplication of Cato. I'd take Johnson over Cato on that basis alone. Buckeye's appraisal of Johnson sounds good to me. How about Cato to Miami for Johnson, lottery-protected 1st rounder, and filler to make salaries work.
I would trade Langhi for KEN Johnson in a New York minute. Actually, I would trade Langhi for any of the Johnsons mentioned .
