NBA NEWS: Has Joe Johnson decided to continue with the Atlanta Hawks?
Arn Tellem has confirmed today that Joe Johnson has signed with his former team Atlanta Hawks. Joe reportedly said that he was impressed by his teams’ commitment with him and that is what made him rejoin the team.
Atlanta Hawks has seemingly offered Joe a contract for 6 years of $119 million which is $27 million more than any other offer. After his horrific performance last year in the play-offs, the team apparently didn’t want Joe anymore, unless LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were ready to team up with him. Therefore, no team was willing to offer Joe a maximum salary cap. But Rick Sund, who is the General Manager for the Atlanta Hawks was rebuilding the team since the past few years and which he had accomplished. As a result, Sund was not willing to waste his effort.
The New York Knicks are also interested in Joe Johnson - who have been trying to grab hold of King James and Dwyane Wade - which sounds like a wish list that they should be taking to Santa. The Chicago Bulls also contacted Joe but did not end up meeting with him. Joe however did not immediately decide to go back to his former team but did consider the offer from the Knicks and the Bulls.
The teams were certainly banking on the thought that if they were unable to persuade the top three free agents namely LeBron James, Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade, they would certainly like to land Joe Johnson to their rooster by the end of this summer. The New York Knicks planned to rope in Joe in order to complete a duo with Amare Stoudemire, the former Phoenix Suns power forward.
Everyone thought Joe would not make a final decision until the other free agents had been sold. However, he proved everyone wrong as James, Wade and Bosh have yet to make a decision. This clearly proves that Joe wasn’t under the influence by the three on deciding what he wanted for his future.
Johnson is widely known as a regular season player as he averaged 21.3 points per season but gave a sad performance in this year’s playoffs. It was speculated that none of the franchises would be interested in him during the free agency period, especially since he turned down an extension made by the Atlanta Hawks worth $60 million.
With opting Joe back, the salary cap for the Atlanta Hawks has almost decreased to nothing, which might lead them into trouble i.e. if they plan on opting for more players this season. By the 2012 season, Josh Smith would be making an expected amount of $13.2 million per season followed by Jamal Crawford who already makes over $10 million. Joe on the other hand is expected to win a cheque of $27 million by next year. Sadly none of them is technically an elite performer as neither of them has obtained a single Championship title.
The Atlanta Hawks is a team who desperately need to find a true centre forward, as their money is tied up with the forwards and guards who can barely make a decent bucket. This is what the Hawks future relies on. Rumours have it that Shaquille O’Neal might be joining the Hawks sooner than anyone thinks and might just end up boosting the morale of the dead team. If the transfer goes through, then the duo between Joe Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal would be one of the most challenging things in the National Basketball Association. But for the time being, all one could only wish them is ‘Good Luck’ because everything is vague and nothing seems to be getting clearer as the days go by and time runs out.
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