NBA / Jul 4, 2010 / 3:42 pm

Joe Johnson accepts Atlanta’s $120 million offer

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Joe Johnson (photo. Zach Wolfe)

When Joe Johnson was averaging 12 points per game on 29 percent shooting in Atlanta’s second-round playoff sweep at the hands of Orlando, it was the worst possible time to have a slump during a contract year. For a player whose talent has never been doubted — rather, critics question his ability to be a leader and perform like a franchise superstar on the big stage — coming up so short in the playoffs wasn’t the lasting impression J.J. wanted to leave with potential suitors.

But the Hawks showed faith in their top guy, offering him a six-year maximum contract, worth around $120 million, almost as soon as the free-agent negotiation period began. After a few days of weighing offers from the Knicks and presumably seeing where he might fit into Chicago’s plans for world domination, Johnson has reportedly decided to stay with Atlanta.

The debate over whether or not Johnson is truly an elite player has been going for a couple of years now. He’s become an All-Star Game regular and the Hawks have increased their win total in each of his five seasons with the team, but at the same time he’s always been a notch or two below superstar two-guards like Kobe, D-Wade and Brandon Roy, and depending on who you ask, also below T-Mac, Vince Carter and Manu Ginobili in their primes.

Coming off a third straight playoff appearance, with a solid young core and a new coach in Larry Drew, it makes sense the Hawks would want to keep Johnson as their centerpiece. Perhaps they could have kept him for less than a max deal, but seeing as J.J. was getting booed by Atlanta fans at the end of their playoff run and seemed dead-set on getting a fresh start somewhere else, the Hawks probably had to give him all they could to keep him.

What do you think of this deal?

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  • http://soundcloud.com/pacer_x pace

    i guess im the only person who doesn’t think brandon roy is so much better than joe johnson.

  • jau

    overpaid but what was atlanta supposed to do? they would’ve been screwed without JJ… dont get me wrong love his game but I think he’s one of those guys who is gonna get a max type contract even though he’s not worth it because there are really only 4 or 5 players worth it (lebron, d-wade, dwight, kobe, durant)

  • Dr.Goggles

    I’m very dissapointed..

  • Kobeeeee

    why atlanta? why?

  • jzsmoove

    Hopefully he will only get better from here on out. He needs to develop that demeanor where he wants to crush the opponent so bad that he takes over games. Having said that, i think he will make Rashard Lewis a forgotten 100M man (lewis made Gil Arenas a forgotten 100M man).

  • stefan

    nobody in his right mind thinks he deserves this kind of money. you gave good examples in t-mac, ginobili and carter, of which I think that they did so much more for their teams than JJ did for the Hawks. They were all better, especially in crunch time, when a franchise player proves he is it.

  • e

    i cant believe they paid this man that type of money this is the biggest mistake in the history of the franchise

  • http://www.fantasybaseballsportal.com E-10

    Thanks, Joe, for leading us to a second-round demolition. Here’s $120 million & a no-trade clause.

  • Rizwan

    Did you just write about Brandon Roy, Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant in the same sentence?!?!

  • J ~Smoove~

    SMH……overpaid!!!!….n we still have the same problems from last year…. No true center(Al Horford)…and a starting pg thats playing past his prime(mike bibby). Our ONLY shot at a ring is if my boi Josh Smith plays outta his damn mind this year.

  • T.J.

    I really don’t think Brandon Roy is better then JJ tbh..

  • bing

    Way over paid. Not sure why they’d bother with JJ.

    The big summer of free-agency has been dull so far. Guys staying put. zzzzzzzzzzzz
    LeBron to the Cavs, woooo

  • Kingralf

    My first thought was “damn, thats Bad for atl”. But what Else could they have Done? There’s no center to sign, they have no Shot at Wade to fill the sg Spot etc. It’s much rather à Bad Situation für atl than à Bad signing imho.

  • K Dizzle

    @ e
    Not even close. Takin Marv Williams over Dwill and CP3
    is the biggest flub in franchise history.

    2) JJ better than B-Roy. More versatile, stronger, definitely more durable…imo. Can’t believe all these posts rippin on Joe cuz of a bad playoff series. Hawks ain’t shit without JJ. Who you Hawks fans think comin thru those doors? Salmons is gone. Pierce re-upped. Wade ain’t comin. Rudy’s signed. Get rid of Bibby. Shit, even Farmar’s an upgrade over him and try to sign Brendan Haywood to man the middle so Al can play the 4 and watch what could happen…

    3) Definitely got more respect for JJ after this deal cuz he coulda taken the easy way out and been a #2 to Lebron or some other #1. Yeah, he got his money, but this means he acceptin the pressure of being the top dog and havin to bring it next playoffs. Good on ATL for keepin that team intact. Too many teams tearin up they squads cuz they don’t win it all after like a couple seasons. If the 90s Bulls came by today, they woulda traded Scottie after the 2nd year the Pistons beat them down before they even got the first chip when he was havin them “migraines”.

    4) JJ’s deal puts all the pressure on Bosh now cuz he wants max money but he wanna be the 2nd option .Well, Joe just took the challenge of being the man. Irony for the Raptors is that when they were rollin around the allstar break, Bosh’s injury pretty much killed what shoulda been a great year(they were up to 4th in the east) and any chance of him re-signing.
    This is gettin interesting…

  • AL

    I think ATL ends up looking weak here. ATL was the girl you live with…. you don’t enjoy the sex anymore (when you even have it)…. Free agency was a weekend in vegas with the boys…. JJ went up to every girl he could find trying to get away. After realizing he wasn’t even the best looking guy in his crew — AND that his crew knew it too — he went back home, hat in hand. And Atlanta KNEW this and still took him back. In three years, where is ATL with this contract when JJ is shot? They should have pulled the offer or reduced it. Where was he going to go? The Knicks? Sign-and-Trade him for David Lee and you’re better off.

  • J ~Smoove~

    K Dizzle says: “Can’t believe all these posts rippin on Joe cuz of a bad playoff series.”

    -___-…..NO my friend, were not ripping Joe for ONE bad playoff series…were ripping him for EVERY playoff series this bum has participated in…EVERY YEAR i watch this guy isolate his teammates in the playoffs and try to prove hes the baddest shooting guard alive.. capable of hitting big shots…. And EVERY YEAR HE FAILS MISERABLY… and destroys any kind of Team Chemistry the hawks build during the regular season…

    I Mean C’mon son…..You ever sat to wonder why NBA Analyst never predict the Hawks to make ANY type of noise in the playoffs??..Eventho there always one of the hottest teams in the regular Season??….. Itz Cuz they KNOW Joe Marcus Johnson is gonna go and make a damn fool outta himself once he starts to feel that playoff pressure…..

    Im out like the Hawks Fans that Booed Joe Johnson this year in the playoffs..(I was one of them)

  • Sporty-j

    Joe Johnson is not better than Brandon Roy. Roy is way more clutch and shows up in big games. The man even tryed to play hurt in last years playoffs and has way more heart. Joe cannot handle the pressure when the playoffs start and does way to may dissapearing acts. Atlanta Fans have to be dissappointed and i would have rather wait next year until another big name came out because they would have made the playoffs even without Joe. Dam these teams are kicking that bread out for nothing and are stupid. Knicks, Mempis and Atlanta. Whos next? Chicago with a max deal for BOOZER? Atlanta welcome to another second round SWEEP…

  • fallinup

    I don’t even know why Roy is being compared to Johnson. Here’s the thing.. Roy is 26. Johnson is 29. Johnson just got max money, for arguably the nest two years at most, at his peak level. After age 31-32… there’s no way he’s ever going to get better. And even now, he sure as hell aint elite.

    Roy’s got 3 years of youth on his side. So how can you even compare the two? Atl paid max money for a guy on his way down talent wise. What a stupid decision.

  • http://getyourishbusted.net Chicagorilla

    @KDizzle

    Damn son, you went off on’em. Well I agree with most of what you wrote. I also think Haywood and Farmar (better yet Ray Felton) would be a great fit for this team to take it to the next level.

    Problem is Joe accepted a $120mill contract. That’s just about the dumbest thing you could do if you want to play on a winning team. KG, Zo, Larry Johnson, and those guys showed you this. Accept a smaller contract and play on a winning team which will bring you the money you wanted in the first place.

    On another note: It seems as though New York AND Chicago will be left out in the cold this FA summer. The only difference being that Chicago will fill in the spots to still be a playoff team, NY will still be horsesh!t because they gave away too many players.

  • AJ Burse

    jj is a dumbass…He understands that he himself will NEVER get a championship so he went for the money……

  • kudos

    No one should be surprised that Johnson doesn’t care about winning. I remember when ATL got eliminated 4-0 by the cavs and Johnson couldn’t do anything.

    Salmon’s is a better player than JOE. Anyone wonder why Salmons always goes off against the Hawks?!? Johnson’s D is garbage, and his Offense is very inconsistent. And that makes this contract straight ridiculous.

  • Reno Hightower

    lmao @ thinking Joe Johnson is on Roy’s level.

  • http://dimemag.com Austin Burton

    For the record, Johnson averaged 27 points in his two games against Portland this year, while B-Roy averaged 19 in those games.

    And in 3 regular season games against Milwaukee, Joe averaged 27 ppg, then averaged 20 ppg in the Bucks/Hawks playoff series.

    I think B-Roy is slightly better than Joe (certainly not WAY better), and Joe is a little more than slightly better than Salmons, but that’s just me.

  • http://astrokidz.tumblr.com T.J.

    Last Time I checked JJ had a bad series against Orlando and STILL did better then B-Roy did this year. Not to mention B-Roy is more turnover prone. Be honest here this isn’t even a fair comparison. Their games are very similar yes but just look at their builds. B-Roy is a 6-6 211 scorer, while JJ is a 6-7 240 beast. B-Roy is an amazing player yes but I can’t recall him doing anything major. At least JJ can say he brought a team from 13 wins to the 3rd seed in the league. 4 Time All-Star. I know he doesn’t seem 120 mil good right now but lets give him a chance to prove himself before we waste time hating on him…

  • http://astrokidz.tumblr.com T.J.

    *Eastern Conference. Top 6 in League. My correction.

  • J ~Smoove~

    NOOO T.J!!!…. after 5 years in the ATL…i will NOT give this guy anymore chances to prove himself!!……im done sticking up for this guy….. i cant wait till the end of the 2010 -11 season when i look back at this article and say…..I TOLD YOU SO

  • http://www.fantasybaseballsportal.com E-10

    Unfortunately, Atlanta was in a bind with his situation. If the Hawks don’t offer him a max deal, he probably leaves for elsewhere, leaving the Hawks emaciated at the SG position.

    By giving him the max deal, they guarantee that he sticks around and they can at least see if this nucleus can work in the next 1-2 years. No other big name FA was coming to Atlanta, so it was almost as if they HAD TO give him the max deal.

    The core of the team is still young enough to make a push, but JJ needs to learn to trust his teammates.

  • ratman

    what a horrible decision by Atlanta.Now they have to stick with JJ well beyond his thirties…No leadership, no athleticism…why??? No other team would have paid that much for a mediocre player. This guy sucks so much in the playoffs,what do they pay him for-only the regular season?….. they could have signed two very solid guys, for example salmons and haywood and would have been much better off…I think we have a tie now for worst contract in the NBA between JJ and Rashard Lewis..

  • Brown

    Now that the Hawks are capped out, they can’t make any more moves. Good luck filling out that roster with anything half-decent.

    Definitely overpaid. The Hawks, as constructed, will never be better than a second round playoff team.

  • Ian

    two things

    1 all those players are better than jj

    2 roy is not better than manu tmac and carter in their primes so i dont know how u mentioned him with kobe and wade.

  • http://deleted dagwaller

    I’d look at this logically.

    Is Kobe a max player? Yes.

    Is Wade a max player? Yes.

    Is JJ as good as those two? No.

    Therefore, why would you want to pay him as much as those guys?

    A few dollars less, but at that level, who’s to say? 10 mil here or there isn’t going to kill any of these guys.

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