What The Atlanta Hawks Can Do If Joe Johnson Wants Out

In the past few seasons, the Atlanta Hawks have slowly become one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA. From winning just 13 games in the 2004-05 season, the Hawks have continually increased their win totals every year since, while making the playoffs for the past three years straight and earning kudos for their athletic, exciting style of play.

This has been achieved with a young, talented roster who have played most (if not, in some cases, all) of their NBA careers together. Currently 2-2 in their playoff series against the Bucks, the Eastern Conference Finals are not beyond the realm of possibility for Atlanta. 

However, all this could soon change.

Joe Johnson has been Atlanta’s talisman the past few years. Ever since leaving Phoenix in acrimonious circumstances, Johnson has blossomed into a perennial All-Star and a threat at both ends of the court for the Hawks.

It’s not a stretch to say that he’s a top-15 player in the league at least. However, he comes off contract this year. While Atlanta would seem to be an almost ideal place for a player of Johnson’s caliber to continue playing—a young and talented nucleus where he is the number one guy, who could well be title contenders in a year or two once they become a little more consistent – it’s also fair to assume that he wants a max contract and, if the Hawks won’t give him one, he will look elsewhere.

In this case, the option that makes the most sense for all would be a sign-and-trade. Johnson can get an extra year for max money (and considering he’s 29 this year and probably in his prime as a player, you’d have to say that’s a consideration since he’ll probably never make near max come his next contract negotiation) and the Hawks can get something in return for him. 

So what are Atlanta’s options?

You’d have to say their biggest weakness right now is at point guard. Mike Bibby is a shadow of himself these days, and Jeff Teague hasn’t shown himself to be the future at the position for Atlanta. Where as at shooting guard, they already have Jamal Crawford plus Josh Childress will probably come back once his contract in Greece is up—while neither of them are in Johnson’s class, you’d have to say the Hawks aren’t totally screwed with either of them as your starting two. 

That said, here are my theories as to where the Hawks should look if their owners are too cheap to pay Joe a max contract.

No. 1: Hawks get Devin Harris and Courtney Lee, Nets get Joe Johnson. 

If the Nets can get the number one draft pick (and John Wall), this is a mutually beneficial deal. The Nets get Johnson at two and automatically form one of the most lethal backcourts in the league – add Brook Lopez to the front court and you have a playoff team right there. Plus, they can even sign another big name – imagine a Nets lineup of Wall/Johnson/Williams/Amar’e/Lopez with Chris Douglas-Roberts, Yi Jianlan and a couple of veterans off the bench. That’s a contender in the East.

The Hawks also get an All-Star caliber point guard who can score, pass and defend passably, along with a capable young shooting guard who can provide spark off the bench, especially if Jamal Crawford becomes the starting 2 guard. Or if they want to keep Crawford as a sixth man, Lee can also be a servicable starter.

No.2: Hawks get the draft rights to Ricky Rubio and a future first round pick, Timberwolves get Joe Johnson.

David Kahn has come out and said that the T-Wolves will be in a rebuilding phase until Rubio comes over from Spain. However, almost everyone with a brain (i.e. not Kahn) knows that the real reason Rubio didn’t come over was because he didn’t want to play for the Timberwolves. The team sucks, it’s owned and run by morons, his mum didn’t like the cold weather of Minnesota, what have you. If all that stood between you and a potential franchise changer was a buyout, you think the Timberpuppies wouldn’t have paid every cent of it?

Therefore, once again this trade benefits everyone. Even if Rubio doesn’t come over right away, the Hawks can make do with Bibby for another year. Once Rubio comes, they should be able to field a lineup that features him, Al Horford, Josh Smith, Jamal Crawford (assuming Atlanta resign him next year) and possibly Josh Childress. That’s, at worst, a low-seed playoff team. If Rubio truly lives up to the hype, they could be anything.

The Timberwolves have even more to gain from this trade. Adding Joe Johnson to Al Jefferson gives you two All-Star caliber players – something Minnesota has never had even when Kevin Garnett played there, along with a future All-Star in Kevin Love. Unless Kahn figures out a way to screw that up (which he most likely will), you have a playoff-caliber team.

No.3: Hawks get Monta Ellis and CJ Watson, Warriors get Joe Johnson.

OK, let me get this straight – I am one of Monta’s biggest fans. I know he’s a ball-hog and an inefficient scorer, but there isn’t anyone else in the NBA who can light a game up like he can (except LeBron or Wade). I’ve watched him grow as a Warrior and I would love him to be a part of what could be a new golden age for the team while forming the most dangerous backcourt in the NBA with Stephen Curry. 

However, there have been rumours recently that he was skipping games at the end of the season with an exaggerated flu bug, that he and Curry can’t work together and that he’s a general team cancer. If these rumours are true, as much as it makes me sad to think it, Monta has to go.

A trade for Johnson would benefit both teams. Atlanta get a genuinely exciting young combo guard in Monta and a solid backup PG in CJ Watson, and they can then focus on building for the future. The Warriors get Johnson and you can imagine how good he and Curry could be. Curry shined all year even while playing with a me-first guy like Monta – how good could he be with Johnson, who’s unselfish on the court and, by all accounts, an excellent character guy off it? Johnson would fit perfectly into Nellie Ball—he could cover 2-4 with ease.

No.4: Hawks get Michael Beasley, Miami’s 2010 first round pick and a couple of future first rounders, Heat get Joe Johnson.

This deal works either way for Miami. If Dwyane Wade leaves, Johnson would be as good a replacement as Pat Riley could possibly hope for. If Wade stays, the Heat have the cap space to add another star either way – with Johnson at small forward, Wade gets the partner he hasn’t had since Shaq in 2006 and the Heat leapfrog into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference.

The Hawks definitely get the raw end of this deal, as Beasley hasn’t amounted to much in the NBA so far. However, no one in their right mind can doubt his potential. Being away from the temptations that Miami provides could be good for him, as well as having a team effectively built around a core of him, Josh Smith and Al Horford. With Beasley at the three (which I consider to be his NBA position), Smith at four and Horford at five, you got a pretty imposing front line. 

These are just a few ideas. Almost every team in the league would benefit from Joe Johnson on their team, however only a few teams have the right combination of players and cap space to pull it off.