[rquoter]Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will pursue a sign-and-trade to lure Atlanta Hawks free agent Joe Johnson(notes), league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Mavericks are unlikely to engage the Cleveland Cavaliers into a sign-and-trade for LeBron James(notes), but Johnson has emerged as a realistic target for the Mavericks. Johnson, is more likely to embrace a sign-and-trade to the contending Mavs than sign a free-agent contract with New York or Chicago, sources said. “New York is far from his first option,” one source with knowledge of Johnson’s thinking said. Johnson will meet with New York officials on Thursday in Los Angeles, but sources warn that Johnson is unlikely to choose the Knicks unless he’s joining them as part of a star tandem. He isn’t built – physically or psychologically – to carry a franchise and the prospect of trying to play the part of savior for New York is unrealistic. The Knicks will turn swiftly to a Plan B that includes Johnson once they believe they’re completely out of the chase for James. Johnson turned down a four-year, $60 million extension from the Hawks before the season, and it could take an offer in the neighborhood of $90 million to keep him in Atlanta. Johnson had a fine season for the Hawks – averaging 21 points – but faded to 12.8 points per game in the Orlando Magic’s sweep of the Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Johnson was raised in Arkansas and has a comfort level living in the Southwest. Johnson, 28, is facing the final major contract of his career, and sources believe he’s far less likely to sign with a team under the cap and cost himself millions than having his agent Arn Tellem aggressively pursue a sign-and-trade. Johnson is determined to get the sixth guaranteed season on a contract that could only come with re-signing in Atlanta or a sign-and-trade arrangement, sources say. ... The Hawks are still expected to try and sign Johnson, but sources don’t believe they’ll offer a maximum contract to him. So far, Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo is the only executive who has suggested he’s willing to do a sign-and-trade for his star. Colangelo will try to get some return on the inevitable loss of All-Star forward Chris Bosh(notes).[/rquoter] http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-johnsonmavericks062810
Smart move by Cuban. Joe is not a real elite player, but he's good, durable, and probably the best player realistically available to the Mavs. You know what they say in Dallas, a Johnson in hand is better than two in the bush.
Joe Johnson is a very good player. But 5 yrs, $90 mill is a ton of money to give a guy who isn't a #1 option.
That would be a really great pickup for them. Nowitzki/Butler/Johnson, too much firepower. If they got hot in a series they could bury any team out there quick.
If Morey went public of interest in Josh Howard, Cuban would come out the next day with the same thing.
It seems that every day there's a new team that's after JJ. I guess I can understand the Mavs, since you are not getting Lebron, Bosh or Wade with Erika's contract and little else.
Something tells me that no matter where JJ goes he will underwhelm people. He's a poor playoff performer who has no killer instinct. He's basically adding more of the flashy stats but little clutch play that the Mavs have dealt with for years. This move makes them a contender on paper but not in real life.
Anyone that wants to pay over $15M to a second banana SG that can't carry a team on his own and has a questionable commitment to winning...have at it. $90M to Johnson is nearly as bad as the Rashard Lewis deal. No thanks. If Cuban wants to go that deep into tax territory for a guy that won't give him all that much more than Jason Terry could at his peak...I'm all for it.
The funny thing is that outside of Wade and James, ALL of the FAs in this offseason ARE second bananas. So, essentially, a lot of second bananas are gonna get paid this year.
But still no solid interior play...which is the primary reason the Lakers are back to back champs - Gasol, Odom, Bynum. Bryant is enough backcourt to pretty much outplay any other backcourt in the league (assuming he get's the minimum of help). This is why the hard sell for Bosh makes the most sense for Houston. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it will work...BUT if it did, a frontcourt of Yao (if healthy), Bosh, Scola, Hill, Hayes and Patterson would, imo, be better than the Lakers, and put you in serious contention. Amare would be an okay consolidation prize, Boozer is a solid player, David Lee puts up great stats, but Bosh is the frontcourt prize given he is the one in the group that truly has the most length and rebounding ability, combined with the best, albeit not great anyway, defensive ability, when it comes to half-court games in the playoffs. Oh well...probably a pipe dream. Dallas can go after Johnson all they want...I don't think it is a smart move for the Rockets to do so at the price Joe wants to be paid.
Cuban respects Morey a lot and keeps giving him props as being one of the smartest GMs in the league. The Mavs will be pretty good if they get JJ but they have been pretty good the last few years. They are still missing that killer instinct and the rough physical player in the post that helps in the playoffs.
When will cuban realize his team's main problem is not having legitimate low post presence. He keeps adding perimeter talent that gets shut down in the post season by good defenses. When they go cold they lose. Dirk will always fall back to his fade-a-way jumper in tough times. So go ahead and give up a lot of your team for Joe... that still wont get you over the hump against a good defensive team come playoff time.
EXACTLY. The Mavs have too many wannabee Batmans and not enough Robins...and possibly no Batman at all depending on what you think of Dirk. The Mavs have always built their Cuban teams without toughness and defense - not enough role players who do the little things. In a lot of ways, they are the antithesis of Houston's roster - full of guys who under perform vs Houston's overachieving roster.
