[ESPN.com] Sign-and-trade with Hawks would net Johnson $70M

Johnson is versatile but he's in for a rude awakening if he thinks he can play point guard full-time and succeed at a high level. Alot of versatile swingmen think they can play point (Rose, Hughes) but the fact is, running the offense for 35+ mins a night is different than doing quick spot duty for 10-15 mins like he did last year. Not to mention having to match up defensively with guards quicker than you every night.

 

Wow, this is insane. I think both teams are making a bad move, here. Phoenix should probably keep Joe Johnson, but at least they are getting some compensation. The Hawks are overpaying, and the Suns...

Well, they weren't true contenders in the first place...but they're done.

This pretty much ensures that Steve Nash will be the first MVP to never make the HOF. With his weak career stats, he needed a title, or at least a finals appearance on top of a couple of more seasons like the last one...

 

No wonder JJ wanted to leave. What kind of lunacy is it to counter a max offer with an offer for $10 million less. They had no leverage whatsoever for making a $60 million deal happen. Either match or don't match. Anything else would just be a waste of time.

 

Yeah, this isn't from a Phoenix spin. I'm sure that's exactly how the conversation went.

Atlanta has the potential to be a lot better than they look right now within a few years. They hit with Josh Smith, and Joe Johnson is an extremely good player- he actually did run some point at Arkansas. If they hit with Marvin Williams and can end up landing a big man with the rest of their cap, they'll have a lot of interesting pieces.

As for Phoenix...Raja Bell sure isn't Joe Johnson, and for that matter, neither is Michael Finley.

 

Nash is not a hall of famer. He's had a bunch of average-good years in the NBA. He's had one great year. He's not even close to the hall of fame. John Stockton played the way Nash played last year for his entire career

 

I guess they were hell bent on saving money, at least they didn't do the dumb thing and traded Marion, that wouldn't save them any money anyway.

How far this knocks Phoenix down is all on Amare...

 

Was their Voskuhl trade with the Bobcats already consummated? If so, they gave him away for no reason at all.

 

Wow. Even though they got Kurt Thomas (although older and declining) for Richardson they gave up a lot of youth and scoring this offseason. I would understand more if they were already a decent defensive team. I do not picture this team being able to defend extrememly well and this makes Nash not as effective. Losing both of these players which really scared teams last year with their 3pt shooting I think will now make them only a mid to late seed in the playoffs. What will Nash do now when he slices down the lane and draws in the defense? Who will he kick the ball out to hit the open 3? The Suns have some serious holes to fill at this point if they want to be remotely as good as they were last year.

 

Lose Lose situation for Suns and Joe Johnson.

Suns lost their No.2 scorer and ball handler and Joe Johnson gonna play for a bad bad team for a long time. He is good but doesn't worth the max contract and he isn't good enough to be the No.1 guy and carry the team, IMO.

I don't know what happened behind the scene but it must be ugly.

 

I really think that the Suns snuck up on people last season and Amare and Nash carried the team in the half court (the rest of the guys just jacked up threes) - they were lack that DIII college team that rotates players every 2 minutes and doesn't play defense.

this season, they are going to have Thomas in the middle clogging the lane for Nash - and no Q (who got a lot of rebounds to go with his 3s). Also, Marion will be back at SF, where he will not be able to create mismatches with 4s. I don't see how they will be able to beat the Rockets. - Tmac will cover Marion, Stro on Amare, Yao on Thomas, they have no shooting guard, so you put James, Sura, Head (whoever) to stay in front of Nash

 

Great deal for the Hawks! They wanted JJ and looks like they are going to get him. And they dont have to give up much. Diaw was practically a zero on their roster. And the picks they give way are one of theirs which is lottery protected and one that isnt even theirs. I thought for sure that the Hawks would have to give up Harrington or Childress and yet they dont! Great move for the Hawks. They have to gamble and I think JJ is a solid player. Max worthy? I am not sure, but he is pretty good and is worth a shot for them.

For the Suns. Man, they are spiralling down. Q and JJ are gone. They dont have Luol Deng (last year's pick that went to Chicago) and they dont have Nate Robinson (1st round pick that went to NY). But they do have Kurt Thomas and Raja Bell! Whoopee! HUGE step back for the Suns. Their best bet now is to use one of the 1st round picks they got plus the 5M Trade Exception they are going to get to absorb a contract from someone to add more depth to their roster.

Step back for the Suns!

 

Maybe I'm just a hater but I enjoyed reading that.

 

Can anyone actually say this is good for the Hawks with a straight face? Joe Johnson is a role player, about to get MAX money. All the Hawks are doing is ensuring they still suck for the next 10 years.

Phoenix got a steal by getting Diaw and 2 draft picks + TE -- Although I bet they wished they would've kept Q now.

 

...so, the Suns will get those draft picks around 2017 or 2018...

 

Phoenix will take a large step back this year. Fine with me. Amare will really be under the gun. Without JJ creating, he will see more double teams than last year. Kurt Thomas will also be clogging up the paint some plus Nash will be older. Amare also won't get as many fast break slams because the team will be slower. On the plus side, he will go back to PF and won't have to work as hard defending heavier players.

JJ will do fine in Atlanta as long as he doesn't try to average 30 PPG. There were stretches last year when he tried to go one-on-one too much and forgot about his teammates. The Hawks are so raw and the temptation to take over may get the best of him. He's gotta wait on their very young players to develop and take a true PG's mentality of trying to make them better. I think JJ is better at being a #2 option than being the main man.

 

I agree completely, I think there summers moves are major steps backward long term and short term. They got older, slower and less versitle. To make this deal equitable the Suns should have had at least had Childress or Josh Smith (rather than Diaw) plus those picks, or Diaw + Atl's UNprotected pick + other pick. A unpromising prospect like Diaw plus 2 mid 1sts is no where near Joe Johnson's market value.

Joe Johnson is 4 years younger and had a more impressive stat line than Manu Ginobili. I am not saying he is a better player right now than Manu, but "role player" is quite an understatement. He may not be a superstar, but he is a pretty solid bet as a star.

 

Yes. I my opinion you vastly underrate Joe Johnson. I dont think he is a "max worthy" player. Atlanta had to overpay to get him as teams like the Hawks have to do to get quality talent.
But Johnson is HARDLY just a role player. In my opinion he has all the talents to be an NBA all star.

Ask Phoenix fans if they feel they got a "steal" by getting Diaw and a couple of mid 1st round picks for Joe Johnson. Chances are you will find none.

 

After Dwyane Wade's 19-point half, Stoudemire barked at Johnson in front of the team: "Are you going to play any (expletive) defense?"

That's funny. But then again, it IS Dewyane Wade.

 

Amare is just being a leader. I wish Yao would yell at somebody.
However, this is great. The Suns lost Q to the Knicks and Joe Johnson.
The only one who can shoot straight is Nash.

 

On the one hand some of the greatest players of all time were fierce competitors that got into the faces of their teammates. On the other hand, Amare could be looked on as a hypocritical dick because he's not exactly Mr. Wonderful on the defensive end either.