I never understood re-signing him to that contract. If the team didn't feel like DeMarre Carroll was worth $15M per season, why is Bazemore worth $17M per year? When smart teams find viable players off the scrap heap, they're supposed to let them go when they become too expensive, let a dumb team overpay them, and find the next viable player off the scrap heap. 

On 5/23/2016 at 0:53 PM, JTB said:

I do see why bud loves Big Al...he just need to limit the 3s next season and crash the boards harder. 2 things he's fully capable of...it's not like he's a dumb player.

Unfortunately, that seems to be a thing of the past. He just posted the third worst rebounding numbers of his career the year after posting the second worst. There is a definite trend going down. 

I'm sure the owners thought it would be a good idea to institute max contracts but in reality it probably isn't a good idea because it artificially deflates the value of true max players and inflates the salaries for lesser players. In a true open market, a player like LeBron James is probably worth $50 million per season. But in this system he only makes $25 million which means teams have lots of extra money to give players who aren't LeBron James $25 million per season. 

Everyone can say Al Horford is a max player because some team will give him a max contract, but the problem is if Cleveland can pay LeBron $25 million and get what they get out of him, how much more money does Atlanta have to spend in addition to the $25 million they would have to give Horford to make up for everything Horford can't do that LeBron can? In other words, the Hawks would have to spend $40-50 million for Horford and 2-3 other players to be able to do everything that LeBron can do by himself. You can't win that way. 

20 minutes ago, AHF said:

Game 1 - won rebounding battle (chance to win game), last lead 4.5 minutes left in 4th quarter, down 4 points with 2.5 minutes remaining

Game 2 - lost rebounding battle (no chance to win game), last lead 7 minutes left in 1st quarter, down by 36 to end 3rd quarter

Game 3 - lost rebounding battle (no chance to win game going down stretch), destroyed 36-17 in 4th quarter

Game 4 - won rebounding battle (chance to win game), last lead 1.5 minutes left in 4th quarter, outscored Cleveland in 4th

Great post. 

I don't know how your starting center who wants a max contract gets rebounded by Kent Bazemore in the playoffs. 

According to HoopsHype, the Hawks have the #6 payroll in the NBA. They're spending a ton of money. They have 5 players who make at least $7.5 million per season. They have the 10th highest paid player in the league. Unfortunately, they're just not getting a good return on investment for most of it.

I agree that Joe is a better athlete. But considering his age, Dirk was amazing. He is a very smart player and you are right on with your comment about leadership and competitiveness.

Is he? Joe may be a marginally better athlete in a vacuum, but if you throw in a height adjustment, Dirk is way, way more athletic than your average 7'0" player in the NBA compared to how Joe would relate to your average 6'7" NBA player.

Dirk had a horrible 1st half but his teammates were able to carry him, who does the lifting if Joe has a game like that.

Versus Orlando

Joe Johnson: 108 points

Jamal Crawford: 123 points

A lot of people are talking about Mark Cuban being able to throw money at players to get them, but in most cases the Mavs had to give something up to get those players, so it's not just about money. The Mavs have done a great job holding onto assets and moving them when the time was right. To get Jason Kidd they traded Devin Harris, some expiring contracts, and two 1st round picks. To get Tyson Chandler they dumped Erick Dampier's expiring contract. People talk about the Hawks not making moves, but they have little to no assets other teams would want. You have to give up something to get something.

Forget Dirk Nowitzki. I'm not even sure Joe Johnson is any better than Jason Terry.

As I was saying....

Until JJ is GM and he can give himself a balanced team to play with... I don't think you can put that on him simply because of Money.

How many balanced teams were Gilbert Arenas, Michael Redd, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson, Jerry Stackhouse, and every other pretty good but not great wing player of the last ten years? Joe Johnson has been in the same situation the rest of the league has been in.

KG didn't dodidley in Minny. That's the problem. What exactly did he do?

At his best average a 24-14-5, win a NBA MVP, 3-time all-NBA first team, 3-time all-NBA second team, 6-time all-defensive first team, 2-time all-defensive second team, 4-time rebounding champ, and 10-time all star.

Gilbert Arenas

The organization doesn't care about championships. They just want to keep their jobs, win 45-48 games every years, and hopefully win a 1st round playoff series.

You missed the whole point. Joe is a much better defender than Dirk. That was the point (Joe has more all around skill, Dirk is a better scorer)... You keep mentioning scoring as if if you showed 20 more ways that Dirk is a better scorer that it will change his all around game??

:alcoholic:

Dirk is also a significantly better rebounder. Granted he is much taller and plays a position more favorable for getting rebounds, but the point is he does more than score.

Man, if Jason Terry is better than Joe Johnson....what are we complaining about? The Hawks didn't underachieve, they overachieved..

People complain about this team. This player sucks. This player sucks. This player sucks. If all our players suck, we wouldn't have made the playoffs...we wouldn't have gotten past the first round...and we wouldn't have been close to advancing to the ECF.

It is arguable that the Hawks have been overachieving. They have a lot of good players but what people complain about the most is not having a true #1 alpha dog type player. But they do have more #2 and #3 level players than a lot of the teams still playing.

No one underrates the talents of Joe Johnson like his own fans. Are people seriously talking about Marcus Thornton and the like? I mean....seriously? Dirk is as good comparison because DAL fans did thee same thing to him for ages. Tyson Chandler and Haywood are making a world if difference on that team. Not to mention the right coach.

Come on Dirk is the #28 scorer in NBA history to Joe's #164 while only being 3 years older. Over 9,000 points separate them. That's like comparing John Elway before his Super Bowl titles to Trent Green.

Forget Dirk Nowitzki. I'm not even sure Joe Johnson is any better than Jason Terry.

One thing is for certain, had we not made the trade, we would have never found Teague. He would have ended up like Acie or Salim. A dude that showed some flashes but could never win time on the court.

I think a much better Hawks comparison would be Boris Diaw. Acie and Salim proved they couldn't play for ANY team. Diaw may not have been able to play for the Hawks for various reasons, but he was able to play for other teams. Even if the Hawks hadn't finally played Teague major minutes against the Bulls, some other team would have eventually given him a chance.

The most depressing thing is Atlanta has the #7 payroll and OKC the #25 payroll.

The only thing that bothered me was his Tracy McGrady and Michael Redd reference in relation to Joe....both were injured which caused a decline in their games.

Older players are more injury-prone. The older Joe Johnson gets, the less he'll be able to recover from stress on his body he's previously been able to overcome.

Ron Artest

2011-2012: $6,790,640

2012-2013: $7,258,960 (Player Option)

2013-2014: $7,727,280 (Player Option)

Marvin Williams

2011-2012: $8,050,000

2012-2013: $8,837,500

2013-2014: $8,050,000 (Player Option)

At the least the Hawks would clear up a little salary, but I'm not sure I'd want Artest and Josh Smith hanging out together.

It's funny. You don't have any other reason to trade Joe except his contract.

He leads us in ppg.

He leads us in apg.

He gets over 4 rpg.

He's a 5 time allstar.

He's the only player we have worthy of a nightly double team.

and you say... trade him because he makes too much??

That's ignorant.

Joe's contract may be somewhat feasible right now, but it's not going to be like that forever. His contract is going to account for roughly 1/3 of the team's salary cap for 5 more years. If you look across the NBA, the worst contracts by far are held by perimeter players on the wrong side of 30 - Rashard Lewis, Michael Redd, Andrei Kirilenko, Gilbert Arenas, and Vince Carter. This shouldn't be news but Joe Johnson is a perimeter player who turns 30 in a month. All evidence shows he's not going to keep it up much longer.

The Hawks only have two players from the last five drafts still on the roster, Horford and Teague. If they're not careful this team is going to get old soon. I'd prefer to keep my assets diversified with young and old players.

Here are the highest paid non-big men in the NBA right now:

1. Kobe Bryant

2. Rashard Lewis

3. Michael Redd

4. Andrei Kirilenko

5. Gilbert Arenas

6. Vince Carter

Do we think Joe Johnson has more in common with Kobe Bryant or everyone else?