Nets hinting at trading Deron and JJ ? (rumor)

[rondohondo]

"We are committed to keeping our core leadership together by re-signing Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young. At the same time, we will continue to build on our emerging young core of players, such as Mason Plumlee, Bojan Bogdanovic, Markel Brown, and Sergey Karasev."

Not mentioned: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Jarrett Jack or Mirza Teletovic. The first three have been subject of trade rumors or speculation while Teletovic is a restricted free agent. The Nets have said they will make a qualifying offer to Teletovic before June 30, meaning they can match any offer he may receive. The question of course is how high they would go

.

This was from a letter the Nets organization sent out to season ticket holders.

They also said they want to pick up some more picks.

So is this good for the c's future nets picks?

[Eddie20]

"We are committed to keeping our core leadership together by re-signing Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young. At the same time, we will continue to build on our emerging young core of players, such as Mason Plumlee, Bojan Bogdanovic, Markel Brown, and Sergey Karasev."

Not mentioned: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Jarrett Jack or Mirza Teletovic. The first three have been subject of trade rumors or speculation while Teletovic is a restricted free agent. The Nets have said they will make a qualifying offer to Teletovic before June 30, meaning they can match any offer he may receive. The question of course is how high they would go

.

This was from a letter the Nets organization sent out to season ticket holders.

They also said they want to pick up some more picks.

So is this good for the c's future nets picks?

Good. Williams and Johnson are better than the picks they'll receive for them. I'm not even sure if they'll get anything, but a late 1st/2nd rd pick for either because of their contracts (and poor play in Williams case.

[SHAQATTACK]

Ha ha.....they paid all these older players stupid money .......now like Wallace they are on the downside , making a billion dollars .....

Oh yeah ......I m sure they'd love to be rid of those two and monster size contracts .


Nets ....have been creating the Frankenstein contract s .....for years

Good lucki with those two

Lopez is where they can probably gets one value. .....maybe.

[knuckleballer]

I'm sure teams are lining up to trade draft picks to pay Joe Johnson $25 million next season and Deron Williams $43.5 million over the next two.  Lol.  Good luck with that, Billy King.

[danglertx]

Who could even take those contracts for nothing?  It would have to be trading bad contracts and I'm not sure there are that many contracts as bad as those.  Of course I thought Atlanta would never be able to trade Joe Johnson and they somehow did.

[JBcat]

If I were to guess what teams would be desperate to take on the contracts of Williams or Johnson maybe the Knicks or Lakers if they both strike out in free agency.  Maybe the Mavs with Dirk nearing the end and Cuban willing to open the pockets.  Maybe the Pacers looking for a rebound season.

[LarBrd33]

Just to think outside the box here....

If Boston looks like they'll strike out this offseason with the restricted free agents like Harris/MIddleton and the unrestricted power players like Love, Monroe, Aldridge, etc...

There is SOME logic to trading for Joe Johnson.

Gerald Wallace (10.1 mil - 1 year) for Joe Johnson (24.8 mil - 1 year)

WHy for Brooklyn:  Even after shedding 15 mil in salary, they are still over the cap next year (assuming they bring back Thad and Brook).  But maybe saving 15 million dollars next year helps in their efforts to sell the team.  Has that happened yet? 

Why for Boston:  I'll break it into 3 reasons.

#1 - We have something like 23 mil.  This eats 15 mil of that.  Again, if we fail at signing a top star, what difference does it make?   We'd still have 8 mil in cap space to add someone like Asik or Biyombo.  If the team dumps Bradley's salary (or a combo of players like Turner and Zeller), you might even have enough to still add a max contract deal.  Trading Wallace for Johnson, perhaps, makes Boston more attractive to Kevin Love, right?

#2 - Theoretically, losing Joe Johnson hurts the Nets... which subsequently helps the Celtics since we own their draft pick next year.  He's still one of the most talented players on that team and could definitely start for us at SF.  ...  If you ignore his contract and look at Joe Johnson the player, he's a got talent and can be a consistent scorer that we need.  He made the all-star team in 2014 and can shoot.  Wouldn't he fit well with Stevens pace-and-space system?  Is there any chance that adding Joe Johnson to the Celtics hurts their team?  Is there any chance that losing Joe Johnson helps the Nets next year?  I'd guess no on both.

#3 - There should be no long-term negative impact towards it.  He's a free agent at the end of the year.  If you want to re-sign him you can do it for much less.  The cap jumps 20 mil next offseason anyways. 

The only reason not to do it would be if you are trying hard to free up cap space to sign two max contract players this summer... or Boston thinks adding Johnson stunts the development of young guys on the roster.

[PhoSita]

If we strike out on free agents and trade targets I think I'd prefer to just go young and have a development year.

Using that much money (even if just for a year) on an established player is fine, but only if that player serves as a useful trade asset.  Joe Johnson is not a useful trade asset.

[Endless Paradise]

I mean, they haven't exactly "hinted" at it: they were openly shopping D-Will and were on the verge of trading him to Sacramento before they got fooled by Plumlee's strong start to the season. There were also ideas being floated around about Johnson trades to Detroit and Charlotte.

[LGC88]

Just to think outside the box here....

If Boston looks like they'll strike out this offseason with the restricted free agents like Harris/MIddleton and the unrestricted power players like Love, Monroe, Aldridge, etc...

There is SOME logic to trading for Joe Johnson.

Gerald Wallace (10.1 mil - 1 year) for Joe Johnson (24.8 mil - 1 year)

WHy for Brooklyn:  Even after shedding 15 mil in salary, they are still over the cap next year (assuming they bring back Thad and Brook).  But maybe saving 15 million dollars next year helps in their efforts to sell the team.  Has that happened yet? 

Why for Boston:  I'll break it into 3 reasons.

#1 - We have something like 23 mil.  This eats 15 mil of that.  Again, if we fail at signing a top star, what difference does it make?   We'd still have 8 mil in cap space to add someone like Asik or Biyombo.  If the team dumps Bradley's salary (or a combo of players like Turner and Zeller), you might even have enough to still add a max contract deal.  Trading Wallace for Johnson, perhaps, makes Boston more attractive to Kevin Love, right?

#2 - Theoretically, losing Joe Johnson hurts the Nets... which subsequently helps the Celtics since we own their draft pick next year.  He's still one of the most talented players on that team and could definitely start for us at SF.  ...  If you ignore his contract and look at Joe Johnson the player, he's a got talent and can be a consistent scorer that we need.  He made the all-star team in 2014 and can shoot.  Wouldn't he fit well with Stevens pace-and-space system?  Is there any chance that adding Joe Johnson to the Celtics hurts their team?  Is there any chance that losing Joe Johnson helps the Nets next year?  I'd guess no on both.

#3 - There should be no long-term negative impact towards it.  He's a free agent at the end of the year.  If you want to re-sign him you can do it for much less.  The cap jumps 20 mil next offseason anyways. 

The only reason not to do it would be if you are trying hard to free up cap space to sign two max contract players this summer... or Boston thinks adding Johnson stunts the development of young guys on the roster.

TP for the creativity.
If nothing better at FA or trade show up, I would be ok with this plan C.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'd take JJ or Teletovic

[crimson_stallion]

Just to think outside the box here....

If Boston looks like they'll strike out this offseason with the restricted free agents like Harris/MIddleton and the unrestricted power players like Love, Monroe, Aldridge, etc...

There is SOME logic to trading for Joe Johnson.

Gerald Wallace (10.1 mil - 1 year) for Joe Johnson (24.8 mil - 1 year)

WHy for Brooklyn:  Even after shedding 15 mil in salary, they are still over the cap next year (assuming they bring back Thad and Brook).  But maybe saving 15 million dollars next year helps in their efforts to sell the team.  Has that happened yet? 

Why for Boston:  I'll break it into 3 reasons.

#1 - We have something like 23 mil.  This eats 15 mil of that.  Again, if we fail at signing a top star, what difference does it make?   We'd still have 8 mil in cap space to add someone like Asik or Biyombo.  If the team dumps Bradley's salary (or a combo of players like Turner and Zeller), you might even have enough to still add a max contract deal.  Trading Wallace for Johnson, perhaps, makes Boston more attractive to Kevin Love, right?

#2 - Theoretically, losing Joe Johnson hurts the Nets... which subsequently helps the Celtics since we own their draft pick next year.  He's still one of the most talented players on that team and could definitely start for us at SF.  ...  If you ignore his contract and look at Joe Johnson the player, he's a got talent and can be a consistent scorer that we need.  He made the all-star team in 2014 and can shoot.  Wouldn't he fit well with Stevens pace-and-space system?  Is there any chance that adding Joe Johnson to the Celtics hurts their team?  Is there any chance that losing Joe Johnson helps the Nets next year?  I'd guess no on both.

#3 - There should be no long-term negative impact towards it.  He's a free agent at the end of the year.  If you want to re-sign him you can do it for much less.  The cap jumps 20 mil next offseason anyways. 

The only reason not to do it would be if you are trying hard to free up cap space to sign two max contract players this summer... or Boston thinks adding Johnson stunts the development of young guys on the roster.

TP for the creativity.
If nothing better at FA or trade show up, I would be ok with this plan C.

Some fair points, but my concerns (in response to the questions) are:

1) It's spending money for the sake of spending money.  It eats up cap space which hurts our flexibility during the season.  If a trade opportunity for a star comes up mid season, or some team waives a disgruntled star, then it's typically the teams with cap space to burn who end up with getting guys like that.  For this reason I don't really like throwing away cap space just like that unless it's a move that's going to really help us a lot either short or long term.

2) Joe Johnson isn't the guy he once was.  Last season he averaged only 14.4 points (on nearly 13 attempts) to go with 4.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists in a not insubstantial 35 minutes.   That's not very good production at all, and his offensive production has shown significant decline every year for the past 4 years.  There's a strong possibility that next season he drops off to a 12-13 PPG guy.  His scoring efficiency has also dropped (1.1 points per FGA) which indicates he's either not making as many threes, not getting to the line as much or shooting a lower percentage form the field - in this case it's all three.  His defense is also sketchy. This guy has maybe one or two years left in him at this rate before he's out of the league. The nets should be paying us to take him off their hands with a contract like that - problem is they have nothing to pay us with.   

3) No long term impact in theory, but if we miss out on a key mid-season trade or signing as a result of the cap space we have absorbed by him, then that could impact us long term.

I can get the appeal of this if we were talking about Joe Johnson from 3 years ago, but at this point he's just fallen off way too far to make this worthwhile - we're likely gain nothing from this trade, as this probably doesn't make us any better han if we're starting Turner or Crowder.

[gpap]

I'd take JJ or Teletovic

I would also take JJ.

Would provide a veteran presence and offense.

I would start him either at the 2 or the 3 and have Bradley come off the bench.

A guy like Johnson is especially useful during the playoffs.

[gpap]

I would also make the following move with Brooklyn.

Isaiah Thomas, Evan Turner and Wallace for
Joe Johnson and Jarrett Jack.

I feel Smart could learn a lot from a guy like Jack who's a better player than Isaiah (IMO).

[86MaxwellSmart]

Joe Johnson is a Rich Man's Jeff Green.....SAME desire and hunger---with a bit more Basketball talent.....No thanks.