Joe Knows Where Home Is

2010 is a real treat for us sports fans. Not only will we have one of the deepest NFL drafts in history, but we will also see the most heralded free agent pool ever in the NBA. Joe Johnson is part of that group.

Lost in the glory of the Lebron's, D-Wade's, and the Bosh's lies one of the league's most underrated stars(not super) in current Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson. Although he has gained quite a buzz throughout the league, Joe is still very much known as a silent assassin. A four time all-star, there is no doubt teams will be lining up over the offseason for Johnson's services. So that brings about the question: Where will he land?

In the past few weeks Hawks fans have been waying back and forth on whether Atlanta should try to resign Joe. The most common criticism has been that Joe does way too much Isolation dribbling, which commonly leads to him missing an open teammate as well as forcing up a shot. Although there is good success rate to this method, it can also lead to enormous frustration among fans. Another negative is that Joe is 28 and has few good years ahead of him. Sitting courtside at a game, a fan yelled that he was "A ball hogging elder". This gained a few laughs among the crowd but it also has the advantage of being somewhat true.

Many fans were also discouraged that Joe turned down a 4 year $60 million dollar deal in the off-season. Some say he has had his sights on Madison Square Garden all along in hopes of finally gaining that attention that he deserves. With many recent reports stating that the Knicks would use Joe as a fall back plan if they couldn't get their hands on Lebron, Joe's wish for stardom looks to be a huge possibility.

Now time for the smack to earth reality: Joe Johnson will remain a Hawk.

Let's look at this from a rational and unbiased standpoint. No team can offer Joe more money than the Hawks can. Since he is one of their own, they are able to offer him and him only a max contract. The Hawks CANNOT use the money not spent on Joe to go after say, a Dwayne Wade. They would barely have enough to afford two mid-level contracts. Fans also tend to forget that Joe and his agent approached the Hawks this past offseason about a contract renewal NOT the other way around.

Team chemistry also factors into the discussion. By this time Joe knows where Mike Bibby is standing along the three point line without even looking. He also has a knack of knowing if Josh Smith is flying past for an alley-oop. What he doesn't know is how Derrick Rose would fair with another star in the building or how long it would take New York to transform into contenders.

Another huge topic of discussion: Joe Johnson IS 28.  After coming to the Hawks at 24 and still in search of a Championship, why would he want to completely start that process over with the Knicks only having roughly 3 or 4 good years ahead of him. Joe wants to win now and the Hawks offer him the best chance of that, not Chicago or New York.

Now breathe easy Hawk fans and uncross those fingers for Lebron.