http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cheapseats/articles/0708p2main0708.html Hot-lanta to the max A player personnel source in the NBA's Eastern Conference tells us that the Atlanta Hawks not only intend to offer Suns restricted free agent guard Joe Johnson a maximum contract offer on July 22, there are people within the Hawks organization saying they're going to end up getting him. And a Western Conference source tells us that the Cleveland Cavaliers will turn their attention to Johnson now that Michael Redd has agreed to return to Milwaukee. That has to be a scary thought to the rest of the NBA, because a 24-year-old Johnson could play Scottie Pippen to the 20-year-old LeBron James' Michael Jordan. The exact contract could be worth between $68 million and $72 million for a five-year deal, which is what all other teams can offer Johnson. The Suns could offer around $90 million for six seasons, but we hear the offer they have made is for six years and about $60 million. That ultimately doesn't matter if the Suns are serious about matching all offers, which they would have seven days to do. One source told us that most teams are convinced that the Suns will match, but perhaps Atlanta and Cleveland believe that the Suns are bluffing in attempt to get Johnson for less money. However it plays out, if the Suns are going to keep him, they're going to pay a lot more than the $50 million for six years they could have locked him in for last summer. ### If this is true this is awesome. I would love to see Johnson in Atlanta. They need to continue to build talent on that team. And secondly just seeing anyone throw that kind of MAX money at Johnson FORCES the Suns to match and add that salary to their books. I dont want to see the Suns sign Johnson to a lesser contract. Anything to continue to blow up their cap situation makes me happy. They already have Marion at MAX dollars, Amare soon at MAX dollars and Nash at near MAX dollars. Can they afford a FOURTH MAX player in Johnson? Doubtful!
PLEASE.. PLEASE let the Suns match!!! the rest of their team will be NBDL players after all the fat bank they will have on the books..
Actually, in a fairly deep FA market it's more to the Rockets' advantage if the Hawks and other under the cap teams chew up cap space.
Joe Johnson was a very good player last year. That being said I think it is completely insane to offer him the max. What is going on? People that are not max players are getting offered max dollars. I thought max dollars were for franchise players. I would offer Johnson half of that. I just think the money being offered this offseason is insane.
I hope the Suns don't match. Giving out a max deal to Johnson gives ATL much less money to offer Swift.
holy crap....joe johnson gets max money???? wtf? he is a good player but a max contract? i like how hoops hype compares joe johnson to scotty pippen. i hate pip but he was one of the best defensive players in the game...joe johnson is not.
In all honesty, there are probably only a handful of players in the NBA that are TRUELY worth MAX dollars. Luckily the Rockets have one in Tmac and probably one in Yao when you consider the off the court stuff as well. The problem is that every team can AFFORD at least one MAX guy. So there will be some teams offering MAX money to players that really arent worth it talentwise because the team has the MONEY to do so. They have to "keep" up with the rest of the league. And that's what we see with Michael Redd this offseason. As they say, "in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king." Personally, I think Joe Johnson has a TON of upside. You are talking about a quality 3pt shooter, someone that is 6'8" and can play 3 positions consistantly and is a good defender. I mean, those talents all put together are rare. I think Johnson has more value than Redd or Hughes. Other than shoot what else can Redd do? Johnson can defend, distribute and play multiple positions. Redd is a wonderful shooter but that's all he brings to the table.
I think part of it is that the Hawks understand that if they want to get a better than average player to sign there they will have to offer them more than market value. In this case they have no shot at Johnson if they don't offer the max. To be honest I can't remember the last time the Hawks had a free agent signing of any significance.
That would be incredibly stupid on Atlanta's part, but incredibly good for the Rockets if it happened. Joe Johnson is a very good player, but he isn't close to being a superstar/#1 or #2 option for a team. He's kind of in between being a role player and an all-star. I'm afraid Simmons and Mobley now are going to think that they are worth big money now too...so much for the Rockets getting one of them. I don't think we've seen an offseason to date with this much overpaying of players.
ummm yes we have last off season.. remember Adonal Foyle / T Murphy / JRichardson / SNash (worked out well) / and E (second best center) Dampier. we say that every year and every year stupid GM's over pay. j
I think that every offseason. With guys like Joe Johnson being offered the max and Michael Redd making a zillion dollars, it makes me all the more happy that we have Tracy McGrady on our team. Yao too. Sure, people over-spend on height, so if you have a big guy he's gonna make the big bucks. But when you're talking about guys who earn their contracts and deserve the max ... well done Houston.
What's worse, grossly overpaying for role players (Cardinal, Fisher), or overpaying for star players (Redd, potentially Hughes)?
It'll give me a chuckle if Joe Johnson goes to Atlanta. 1. They traded Q away so they can have cap space to resign Johnson 2. Johnson leaves them for Atlanta Basically that team will be a whole lot less menacing if those 2 are gone. It's a no brainer that Phoenix should match whatever Atlanta offers Johnson (ex: WCF when Johnson did not play). But that could put them in a bind, cap wise, later on. Wow...what a dilemma
