NBA trade rumor: Amir Johnson to Toronto
Amir Johnson
A few days after Amir Johnson got some votes in our unofficial “Who is the worst starter in the NBA?” poll, his stint in Milwaukee might be over before it begins.
According to the Toronto Star, Johnson is part of a rumored trade that would send him and a so-far unknown Bucks player to the Raptors for Carlos Delfino and Roko Ukic.
While Johnson was in contention to win the starting PF job with the Bucks, in Toronto he’d go back in his regular backup role, sitting behind Chris Bosh and possibly Reggie Evans.
Curious move for the Bucks, though. Without Johnson, the only real power forwards on their roster are Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (who’s more of a SF), Kurt Thomas and Walter Sharpe. And Ukic would automatically be the team’s third-string point guard at best, behind Brandon Jennings and Luke Ridnour — fourth-string if Ramon Sessions comes back.
August 17th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Ric_Hardwood says:
Amir Johnson can bring toughness to the Raptors… he can block around 2 a game if given 10 minutes of PT… mark that…
August 17th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
timmy D says:
@ Austin
Bucks signed Hakim Warrick. He only played the 4 for the Grizzlies
August 17th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
wuchiu says:
Carlos Delfino and Roko Ukic
FOR
Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems
August 17th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Joeyy says:
The Bucks have Warrick (as timmy said) but also Ersan Illyasova and Kurt Thomas to play the 4, but they have no starting SF as Mbah a Moute and Alexander are no NBA starter (yet)
August 17th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Jerónimo says:
Is Amir Johnson better than Carlos Delfino (if Delfino comes back from Russia) and Ukic? This is an honest question, I just don’t know.
August 17th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
DG says:
Austin Bucks got Hakim Warrick do some research please it makes the life of basketball fans easier. This is a good trade for both sides. Raps need more defense, shot blocking and rebounding and we get that in Amir. Weems is a DNP CD player for us. The Bucks get a versitile yet inconsistant player in Delfino who can play 3 positions and a young project PG in Ukic.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Sanssasin says:
Thanks to the basketball gods for catching on that Amir could have been a starter. This would have discredited everything good about the game.
Here’s to you basketball gods (a tip of a hat and bottle of beer held high) for making the universe right again.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
sh!tfaced says:
From potential starting PF to possibly being demoted back to 3rd string back up again?! The NBA life is tough to Amir Johnson. Didn’t even get a chance to play one game and blow the starting job like he did in Detroit.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Dagomar says:
Hard to say how I feel about this deal, as a Raps fan. Ukic has great size for a point and he’s really young. He had some great flashes last year and it would suck to see him go. Delfino? He is what he is: an inconsistent swingman with some solid if unspectacular abilities on both sides of the court. This deal is all about giving the Raps some financial flexibility as Johnson’s contract is expiring. Meh.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Kevin says:
@ Dagomar
It doesn’t give the raps any financial flexibility because delfino is not under contract to the raps. It would have to be a sign and trade so the raps would be taking on more salary than they already have.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
chris says:
delfino can flat out shoot – like kapono, but quicker,and can at least play a little D, and dunk on occasion. if delfino won’t play for the raptors, though, then getting anything for him is a great deal. i don’t think ukic is quick enough to play the point in the nba; lots of pgs made him look silly in spots last year, and besides, the raptors have jack and calderon now, which is plenty at the point. the real unknown in the deal is whether amir johnson can grow into an nba big man; with bosh and bargnani getting most of the points, and evans and nesterovic getting most of the rebounds, not a bad situation for johnson and the raptors to try and find out.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
utahJZZ says:
i think this is a solid move for the Raptors
Calderon – Jack
Derozan – Belinelli
Turkoglu – Wright/Weems
Bosh – Evans/Johnson
Bargnani – Nesterovic
August 17th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Vijay says:
I like the deal for the Raps but…giving up on a young player is almost ALWAYS NEVER a good thing to go (refer to leafs giving up young players and draft picks for old, out of shape veterans). I don’t mind giving away Delfino (I like Parker personally..better..way more consistent). But Ukic did show flashes of brilliance last yr and we would need a 3rd string backup pg if jose or jack does down for a prolonged times (or worse..for the season). I mean, Calderon didn’t become great overnight. The kid struggled but I’d like to see him maybe one more season. Johnson can play physical and get some boards and rebound..a la Mensah bonsu. We really do need that…even if it’s third string.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Kevin says:
@ Dagomar
Whoops, looks like you were right and they would save Ukic’s option of 1.5 mil for 10/11
August 17th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Austin Burton says:
My bad, I forgot about Warrick. Though Skiles said he may try Hakim at the three, I’d imagine he’d keep him at PF now.
August 17th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
The Real Tryrone says:
Ain’t no doubt y’all that y’all punks ain’t be preciating Amir Johnson. Cat’s a glasseater and with them right coach be playin like a stud y’all.
True thugs never lie.
The REAL Tyrone
August 17th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Brown says:
Apparently true thugs can barely speak english.
This is a minor move, but a good one. Ukic wasn’t going to see much PT, barring injuries, and the Raps have Marcus Banks on the books for 2 more years at about $4.5 million per. How much value can you really place on a 3rd-string PG?
Getting a young, athletic big man in return isn’t a bad deal. The Raps have seriously lacked athleticism for years now, so any move to address that issue is a step in the right direction.
August 17th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
SayItAintSo says:
LMAO at Brown’s intro…
August 17th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
the cynic says:
why would the raptors do this? Delfino is a legit player while Amir is total garbage
August 17th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
solomon (el latino machismo) says:
WTF is a glasseater supposed to be? ain’t them ones they show on ripley’s eatin’ blades, bulbs and those shit? so uncool…
anyway, nice intro @ brown… kinda funny, but it’s the way of the hood, holmes… jus bear wid da ish ya hear…
and poor amir, mad talent, low hoop IQ will only bring you this far… i hope he gets 15 a night, block a couple, board some and score some… anyway, since bosh is an injury waiting to happen, he’d get his starts…
August 17th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Tim says:
amir can do everything except stay out of foul trouble
August 18th, 2009 at 12:19 am
loc says:
Im excited to see the raptors next season
This is a complete overhaul of the roster. This is a good trade, we were never going to see Delfino again, and with Jack Ukic becomes expendable, on top of that, we keep with the attitude of bringing in some noneuros with a little bit grit, rebounding etc.
It’ll be a very interesting season regardless.
August 18th, 2009 at 2:17 am
UltimateRapsFan4 says:
WHAT ARE THE RAPTORS TRYING TO DO HERE
Roko Ukic can be 1 of the next big things out of europe if they can put work into him. Why do they need amir johnson, like hes a nobody but if we can land sonny weems that will boost are team in a big way because that dude can Flat Out SCORE
August 18th, 2009 at 3:38 am
vince says:
Glass eating cats doesnt sound good either.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:09 am
star_bury says:
Not sure if I should write this @ “The Real Tryrone” (his handle) or “The REAL Tyrone” (his signature), but two things:
1) Pick a way to spell Tryrone/Tyrone.
2) UltimateRapsFan4 is giving you a run for your money in the English department. I’m not sure if I prefer Thug-English or Idiot-English at this point. “Are” and “our” mean different things….
August 18th, 2009 at 10:00 am
capnkimo says:
@Vijay
I really liked Parker too, but I think it mightve been the right time to let him go.
And the trade is now official. I would like to keep Roko too, I loved how he always looked to drive to the basket. He just needed a bit more time to finish those layups. I still remember that game where he finished off the Spurs; Tony Parker had some nice things to say about his performance and I’m sure the Spurs organization in general have him in their radar.