J.J.: “I would love to” re-sign with Hawks “but who knows what happens”
J.J. took questions about his free agency, offered few answers. (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)
Dallas– Left Joe Johnson for a while at All-Star media availability on Friday to get some other stuff, and then caught up with him as he finally stood from his table and got the heck out of there.
So did you get many questions from reporters about your potential free agency after the season?
“Yeah,” he said, smiling wearily.
And what did you tell them?
“I told them the truth: Who knows what’s going to happen in July?” he said, repeating the standard response he’s given to hacks who come through Atlanta and corner him on the subject.
But doesn’t the fact you approached the Hawks about an extension last summer indicate you’d prefer to stay in Atlanta?
“I’d love to,” he said, “but who knows what happens, man.”
That’s about as close as J.J. will come to saying he intends to re-sign with the Hawks. That’s good business, of course. No need to say one way or another until he sees how the Hawks finish out the season and then he can get a feel for the market.
And even after Johnson tipped his hand by asking for the extension (but later declining the Hawks’ four-year, $60 million offer for CBA reasons), the Hawks understand there’s a real chance he might decide to sign elsewhere for whatever reason(s). J.J. probably really doesn’t know what’s going to happen right now.
In the meantime, expect the same noncommittal answers from him as reporters continue to ask him about his free-agency plans.
MC
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63 comments Add your comment
Michael Cunningham
February 13th, 2010
2:16 pm
@ nire: your JC/J.J. comparison and Amare to Cleveland takes are thoughtful, reasonable and full of perspective. what are you doing here?
tony
February 13th, 2010
3:22 pm
qlb, JJ is not the best thing to happen for the hawks since DW. D Mutombo is the best thing to happen for the hawks since DW. As a matter of fact, the hawks were a sub 500 team in JJ first 3 season as a hawk. We made the playoffs for the first time since 1998 because of Mike Bibby not because of JJ. The hawks became a above 500 team because of Mike Bibby not JJ. The hawks are 13 games over 500 because of Jamal Crawford not JJ.
niremental, you are entitle to you opinion but Jamal Crawford is better than JJ from an offensive standpoint. He’s a better penetrator, better scorer and better leader than JJ. When the game is on the line, I want Jamal taking the last shot. If Mike Woodson would turn Jamal Crawford loose against Orlando we would beat them every time. Remember what D.Wade said after they beat the hawks?
“I think we took advantage of the opportunity; them not having Crawford really helped us,” Wade said.
Jamal Crawford puts fear in the opponent minds. If Woodson use commonsense, his team would destroy Orlando if he would turn Crawford loose. The last thing Orlando would want to contend with is a player who could put pressure on their offense.
tony
February 13th, 2010
3:26 pm
I meant to say defense.
lexluther
February 13th, 2010
3:34 pm
Kept Joe in the A and find another quality 3. Bring Marvin off the bench then I believe the GOLD will be in Atlanta for a long time.
JaBe
February 13th, 2010
4:05 pm
The best thing that can happen for the Hawks would be for Joe Johnson to go elsewhere. He is a selfish player.
Blast
February 13th, 2010
6:26 pm
Keep the one you got!
David Smith
February 13th, 2010
8:44 pm
Sund gave Joe a fair contract extension before the season (4 years 60 million dollars) and Joe turned it down. Unless he wants a long term deal i doubt we will see “Iso” Joe next year in a Hawks jersey.
timmy2times
February 13th, 2010
9:08 pm
This may have already been mentioned, but I’m going to give my opinion. While I do like JJ, I don’t view him as a leader. In the playoffs, he disappears. We need a “go to guy.” I think we’ve found that in Crawford. How many game winning shots has Jamal taken? I say let Joe go and sign Bosh. Deal Marvin for whatever you can get, PG maybe and deal Bibby. Potential ‘10-’11 lineup:
PG-Bibby
SG-Crawford
SF-Smoove
PF-Bosh
C-Horford
The Hawks could get out of the second round with that lineup.
JoeBjo
February 14th, 2010
7:01 am
loving to stay is one thing.
wanting to stay is something entirely different.
if Joe wanted to stay he would have accepted the 15 mil per year offer for 4 years.
Mac-Town'z Finest 478
February 14th, 2010
7:49 am
niremental: ” There is not a single facet of the game except drawing fouls in which Jamal is better than JJ.”
I’m not saying he’s better than Joe overall by any means, but you left out one other thing he’s better than Joe at. One very important thing, hitting clutch shots…particularly in the 4th.
doc
February 14th, 2010
9:52 am
@MC @ NIRE … too funny.
yup, love the one you are with. manny t mantra any hawks fan should sing loudly the next 6 months until jj is signed.
MC throws out the sign and trade bit but that is far fetched but who knows? along the more likely scenario he resigns …… make it clear the best reason jj didnt sign this summer wasnt as much for the money but was to maybe see what the first offer would be, be in position to even better that with a good season with the hawks and to increase the number of allowable years to the contract based on the cba rules. he can max out for what is it 5 years whereas last year all he could get was 4? manny t or nire, fill us in so the regulars can bring others up to speed when there conjecture is jj turned us down because he is greedy and ultimately doesnt want to be here.
yes, jamal is flip on roids, not another jj. he would leave us with a fall back scorer if jj leaves and a very strong need to get back mr chills and give him some respect this time around. it would also leave us about 6 wins or so shy of what we can get this year or more.
niremetal
February 14th, 2010
11:06 am
Mac-Town,
I agree that Jamal has a longer history of hitting clutch shots than JJ, but JJ’s ability to step up in the fourth has been underrated and ignored. He routinely hits big shots for us in the 4th, and has hit a half-dozen game winners for us over the past 2.5 years (including a buzzer beater). Some people conveniently forget those in the rush to point out JJ’s flaws. They also forget the big shots Crawford missed (kind of like how MJ fans always forget the number of big shots he missed).
That being said, I’ll concede that Jamal is a big-time clutch player, even moreso than JJ. But Horry was also a better clutch shooter than Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Shaq, Hakeem, Clyde, and all of his other teammates (including Kobe). But since 99% of the NBA season is spent during “non-clutch” situations, that’s a relatively insignificant trait. For the other 47.8 minutes per game, I’ll take JJ.
Doc,
Actually, the Hawks can offer JJ up to 6 years after this season, and all other teams can offer up to 5. But an extension signed this past summer couldn’t be more than 4 years. And yeah….since the last 2 years of a deal are almost invariably the richest, that obviously makes a pretty big difference, especially considering that age 28/29 is when most players sign the last big-money contract of their career.
Thomas
February 18th, 2010
1:51 pm
Keep JJ and acquire Chris Bosh. Move Horford to his natural PF position and Josh to SF. Trade Marvin and Bibby for a solid point guard but even without a trade GET CHRIS BOSH!