Is getting rid of JJ's contract totally impossible?

[Wurider05]

Since he is signed for 5 more years would a trade to a team that no one wants to play for make sense. I wouldn't mind taken back bad contracts if for a shorter period of time.

1. Minnoesota--

2.Memphis

3. Houston

4. Sacremento

5. Golden State

6. Indiana

7. Nets

8. Cleveland

Honestly I don't think that our record would be much different if we would have let JJ walk and put Crawford in the starting lineup.

Edited January 2, 2011 by Wurider05

[Marvin24Williams]

i know JJ has been disappointing but come on, a backcourt of Jamal and bibby with their horrid D playing 30 + minutes a game together? Let's be real, with no JJ our defense will take a huge hit along with our record.

Edited January 2, 2011 by WhassupHawks

[Wurider05]

I understand that but you never know. Hell the worst that could is that we get a good draft pick and Craw walks.

[CODHAWKSFAN]

I agree, plus John Salmons was ready to come to Atlanta. He his no Joe Johnson but he was not that far off, plus he only wanted14 mil which would have saved us a ton of cash.

[sasuke]

A 16 mill TPE would've be a huge asset to have. Better than having JJ for that ridiculous $

[macdaddy]

Its not impossible but I don't know why everyone is still worrying so much about his contract. Its not like we are sitting on a bunch of unused talent. This team needs more talent not less. I'm glad Joe is here. There isn't another guy out there available to us that is as talented.

To answer your question, I think the Knicks or the Mavs would trade for Joe in a heartbeat if the right deal was there. Joe would make the Mavs the team to beat in the West and it would make the Knicks a contender in the east. The question is what can we get from these teams (that they would part with) that would make us better than we are? I"m not sure there is anything.

[Theeyo]

I'm sure Cleveland will take him, they seem desperate to beat Lebron ASAP

[tbhawksfan]

Only two ways to get to the top: Draft a super star onto an already good team or hire a good GM and coach and win trades and coach em up. Hawks drafted OK after a mega rebuilding, but the coaching and trades have been sorely lacking. The window of opportunity to exploit the high picks will close with very weak results unless some good GMing and coaching are integrated.

I voted thumbs up because JJ was not a good signing and a good GM would have taken advantage of the opportunity.

[spotatl]

If you wanted to trade JJ then I think the Mavs would take him. But would people really want to trade him for Caron Butler and Deshawn Stevenson? Thats the kind of trade you do for a player when you think they are on an albatross contract...

Edited January 3, 2011 by spotatl

[WraithSentinel]

No contract is unmovable. Sometimes you just have to wait until the right situation presents itself. One thing is almost certain if/when JJ is move. Don't expect much in return.

[AHF]

I understand that but you never know. Hell the worst that could is that we get a good draft pick finish at the end of the lottery and wind up drafting the next Tyler Hansbrough/Gerald Henderson/Brandon Rush/Anthony Randolph/Acie Law/Julian Wright-type player and Craw walks leaving us in the land of utter irrelevance where the Pacers have lingered for some time.

Corrected.

On the original post, the answer is definitely "no." We could get rid of JJ's contract but you want to have better leverage than we have right now to do so and get the best value.

[ATownWhatup]

I bet half the league would want Joe Johnson.....your telling me Dallas wouldn't make a run at him? or Orlando? or maybe Chicago?

Listen, he's disgustingly overpaid.....but he's still an All-Star in this league and has very good trade value.

All the teams with money last summer wanted to sign him to max deals......let's not make him a liability quite yet just because we overpaid him by $30M compared to what Chicago or NY could offer him

[Wretch]

I bet half the league would want Joe Johnson.....your telling me Dallas wouldn't make a run at him? or Orlando? or maybe Chicago?

Listen, he's disgustingly overpaid.....but he's still an All-Star in this league and has very good trade value.

All the teams with money last summer wanted to sign him to max deals......let's not make him a liability quite yet just because we overpaid him by $30M compared to what Chicago or NY could offer him

Agreed....

JJ is an asset with very good value - a 2 guard that can put up 15/8 to 10/5...there are a lot of teams that JJ would put over the top. The difference is, those teams have the talent that would allow him to be a #2 option. We dont... So trading him takes us a step backwards. A young guy putting up similar numbers (nimbers!) on a smaller contract is appealing, but I'm not ready to risk the lottery right now and to be honest...we wouldn't be high lottery where we need to be. In all honesty, we'd still be a playoff team - a fringe playoff team in an even worse situation than we are now.

Edited January 4, 2011 by Wretch

[Iman]

The offseason decisions for the Hawks were pretty easy the last few years. We had to resign our core or take a step back. We were over the cap so we could not have just signed another player for the money we gave JJ.

For sure opportunities to trade JJ, Marvin, or our other overpaid players will and have came up. It's just a matter of finding the one that makes us better. Most likely these trades will be for other overpaid players. Just look at the recent Washington/Orlando trade. That's what that was, movement of overpaid players. Players that demand trades like Carmello also make trades like this happen.

I'd be shocked if we don't make a move like that somewhere during JJ's contract if we don't advance past the first round of the playoffs. There will always be tons of overpaid players and teams that want to swap them.

[Brokentree]

I don't know Utah's financial philosophies but I wonder what people would think of a Johnson for AK trade. It doesn't really gain the Hawks anything talentwise but it would get us out of Joe's contract. Maybe a multi team trade and try to get a draft pick out of it. I like Joe but his contract really scares me considering who owns the team. I wonder what its like to be a Lakers or Knicks fan and not care about how much someone makes. I'll just try and convince myself that it would be boring.

[Diesel]

The whole notion that we have to get rid of Joe's contract is foolish. You might not like Joe's contract, but honestly, without Joe, we're not a playoff team... and won't be. Moreover, Joe is not close to being our problem. Our problem is 3-4-5. We don't want to be real about this, but I'm bringing it to you real. Our problem is that between the 3, 4, and 5 position we have nobody that can dominate the post. We have talent and Joe's just another form of our talent (along with Craw, Horf, Smoove, and the like) but we have nothing at the 3,4, and 5 that can help us inside.

So we are a jumpshooting team.

I guess that's Joe's fault.

[Brokentree]

The whole notion that we have to get rid of Joe's contract is foolish. You might not like Joe's contract, but honestly, without Joe, we're not a playoff team... and won't be. Moreover, Joe is not close to being our problem. Our problem is 3-4-5. We don't want to be real about this, but I'm bringing it to you real. Our problem is that between the 3, 4, and 5 position we have nobody that can dominate the post. We have talent and Joe's just another form of our talent (along with Craw, Horf, Smoove, and the like) but we have nothing at the 3,4, and 5 that can help us inside.

So we are a jumpshooting team.

I guess that's Joe's fault.

You're talking like the team wouldn't benefit at all from trading Joe. The Hawks certainly would be a playoff team without Joe because we'd be getting something in return. Sure we might dip further into mediocrity for a season or two but the idea is that our GM won't completely suck at his job and we'd get some sort of value in return. Draft picks, young players with upside, expiring contracts to help in free agency? The situation the team is in now we can't even trade for someone like a Marc Gasol or a Roy Hibbert or a Brook Lopez because we can't afford to pay them their next contracts. Joe's contract is ok for a couple of years but after that it is just brutal. In 2015-2016 he'd be making twice what Al Horford is due to make. If Sund can find a reasonable deal that gets us out of his contract then by all means he should go for it. Its all speculation anyways. Nothing is going to happen this year with Joe's elbow not allowing him to play his best.

[Diesel]

You're talking like the team wouldn't benefit at all from trading Joe. The Hawks certainly would be a playoff team without Joe because we'd be getting something in return. Sure we might dip further into mediocrity for a season or two but the idea is that our GM won't completely suck at his job and we'd get some sort of value in return. Draft picks, young players with upside, expiring contracts to help in free agency? The situation the team is in now we can't even trade for someone like a Marc Gasol or a Roy Hibbert or a Brook Lopez because we can't afford to pay them their next contracts. Joe's contract is ok for a couple of years but after that it is just brutal. In 2015-2016 he'd be making twice what Al Horford is due to make. If Sund can find a reasonable deal that gets us out of his contract then by all means he should go for it. Its all speculation anyways. Nothing is going to happen this year with Joe's elbow not allowing him to play his best.

BT, as I read this board daily... I see two things constantly mentioned. Trade Joe and Trade Jamal. Do you realize that those are our two best players? The question is why do you want to trade them? Answer: Contract. OK, here's my problem. Contract is the owners/GM's problem. It doesn't effect the outcome on the court. What I hear is that you want to get rid of what's right in Atlanta and not say a word against what really needs to be dealt with. IF you want to know what players have an effect on how we play: Marvin, Bibby, Zaza... Why not look into these contracts. Moreover, if you trade away Joe, we will not make the playoffs. Smoove and Horf, while they may be fan favorites, are not guys who can carry a team. You can't depend on them to score points. Just last night , Joe and Jamal went for 60 and took most of the 4th off. Al and Josh went for 24 with not so good shooting. IF Mark Cuban was our owner, would you still be worried about Joe's contract?

Here's the bottom line (and I learned this from Dominique, Shareef, Deke and Smitty): Don't worry about the contract. Address what really needs to be address ( our low post scoring).