Atlanta Hawks: Joe Johnson is back
Joe Johnson’s agent, Arn Tellem, confirmed in a blog post at Huffington Post that Johnson accepted the terms of a six-year contract offer from the Hawks. Johnson and the Hawks finalized the details of the deal on Sunday but a contract can’t be signed until July 8 under free-agent rules.
In the blog post, Tellem offered some insight into J.J.’s decision:
When the free-agency period kicked in, Joe made a point of talking to the Hawks first. Their owners and new coach, Larry Drew, impressed Joe with their commitment to making the team championship-caliber. In turn, Joe felt equally committed to the Hawks, his teammates and the city of Atlanta.
With all his success, Joe remains as grounded as he was a decade ago at our first meeting in Little Rock. His priorities are his family, his friends and his game. Joe could have forced a sign-and-trade deal for five years with another team, but he decided that winning in Atlanta would be more meaningful. When the Hawks offered the maximum — six years — he happily reciprocated.
For his next act, Joe plans to actively recruit other top free agents to Atlanta, a place not unlike his hometown, where he feels comfortable and appreciated.
J.J.’s contract is expected to be worth roughly $120 million, with the exact value to be determined after the league completes its audit later this week. Once the contract is signed, the Hawks will have about $63 million in salaries committed to 10 players for 2010-11. That includes J.J.’s projected salary of about $15.8 million and Jordan Crawford’s rookie-scale salary of about $1 million.
The total doesn’t include the $4.8 million qualifying offer for restricted free agent Josh Childress, who has drawn interest from Washington. The Hawks would have the right to match an offer sheet Childress signs with another team. Childress has until July 15 to notify Greek team Olypiakos if he plans to opt-in for the final year of his contract.
MC
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298 comments Add your comment
Section 303
July 4th, 2010
4:34 pm
I’m sorry, but the blog this week has been killing me…..a bunch of people complaining about the Hawks who I’ve never seen on here before. I truely doubt that some of you care enough about the team to let this signing bother you. Stop acting like you do.
Reading posts from people like Chad calling Sund “one of the worst GM’s in professional basketball” is getting annoying. Sund is fine. I can’t think of a bad move he made, yet. Unless, you want to count not being able to hang onto Childress (that’s debatable, though).
So, if some of you are that upset, then just don’t go to the one game a year you usually go to. The games will go on with out you.
01HAWK
July 4th, 2010
4:34 pm
OWNERS could have saved there money. JJ will not be a money player except when he cashes his checks.
1st or 2nd round will be the norm to get knocked out of the playoffs.
bigdave
July 4th, 2010
4:35 pm
on iphone by the way.. i see what you saying Doc !!
ill stick to blogging on here from lap top or HTC Touch Pro 2..
Mark
July 4th, 2010
4:36 pm
I actually like Joe alot! He has scored his points and does bring his presence to every game… can’t say the same thing for Marvin or even Josh. Let’s get the center and the PG that we have always needed. WELCOME BACK JOE!!!!!
P.S. Rick Sund has done more good things in two years for this team than the last 3 GM’s have done
01HAWK
July 4th, 2010
4:36 pm
ISOLATION PLAY………………………..That is all he is good for. Would have rather had CHRIS BOSH and DAVID LEE.
Section 303
July 4th, 2010
4:36 pm
NikkiFree, goodbye. I’m holding you do that declaration that you’ve made your last post about the Hawks. The readers/contributers to this blog are now that much smarter, not having to read your totally uniformed comments.
Mark
July 4th, 2010
4:38 pm
Joe, for what its worth… I completely support you and will continue to be a HUGE fan of the Hawks.. glad everyone is back… We are just as good as last year and can have the opportunity to get better. GETTING TO PLAYOFFS IS BETTER THAN NEVER HAVING A CHANCE
bigdave
July 4th, 2010
4:38 pm
a good read from Soulja’s blog:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arn-tellem/a-robust-cup-of-joe_b_635159.html
JMar
July 4th, 2010
4:39 pm
“Sund is fine. I can’t think of a bad move he made, yet.” Not counting the franchise-crippling contract he’s offering Joe Johnson? How about the contract he gave Mike Bibby that he’s now desperately trying to get rid of? How about the contract he gave Marvin Williams? How about resigning Mike Woodson? Better question – what has Rick Sund done right?
James
July 4th, 2010
4:39 pm
Joe don’t care about winning he only cares about money if he cared about winning he would have went elsewhere. The Hawks are stupid they could have made a deal with Dallas and signed and traded Joe to Dallas for Caron Butler and Brendon Haywood.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 4th, 2010
4:40 pm
“Joe could have forced a sign-and-trade deal for five years with another team, but he decided that winning in Atlanta would be more meaningful. When the Hawks offered the maximum — six years — he happily reciprocated.”
Translation: none of the other teams that wanted him had enough assets to send back to the Hawks in a sign-and-trade, so he stayed in the place where he would get the most money.
With all that spin he’s doing in that article, though, Arn “Soulja Boy” Tellem seems like a hell of a good agent.
bigdave
July 4th, 2010
4:40 pm
included in the read:
“On his way out of the gym, Michael Jordan — on hand to scout him for the Washington Wizards – told me, (”Mark my word: Joe could turn out to be the best player in the 2001 draft.”)”
blonju aka the ghost of sekou smith
July 4th, 2010
4:41 pm
joe will have made almost a quarter of a billion dollars when his run in ATL is done.. all that money to be an “almost-contender” … it’s a good day for fans who are satisfied with making the playoffs, but it’s a miserable day for those of us who know we are still one major player away from winning it all!! oh, how painful it is to be a hawks fan.. so with almost zero cap room, if we could just find some one stupid enough to take bibby, marvin and zaza for another superstar…
Real Hawks Fan!
July 4th, 2010
4:41 pm
MOST OF YOU FOOLS UP HERE POSTING THAT JOE SIGNING IS THE WORST IN NBA HISTORY weren’t watching the Hawks until Joe Johnson came along and made them good!
All of these fake fans! The 1st game lost w/out Joe I’m sure all of you Joe haters had every intention to fill all of those empty seats after the 1st lost too huh!
Section 303
July 4th, 2010
4:41 pm
JMar, why don’t you let this offseason play out? All GM’s make mistakes. I’m not sure anything you mentioned qualifies as one, though. I still think Bibby will be a good backup. You will have to stand in a long line to convince me he can’t shoot the ball. And, I’m not the biggest Marvin fan, either. Who says Sund won’t find a way to trade him, though? Wait and see…
Say it isn't so, Joe
July 4th, 2010
4:41 pm
Flip off the fans and get a raise. On top of that, he continuously shows he has no heart during the playoffs. He is not an elite player. Only the Hawks. Never will go to a game as long as Joe is on the team. Pathetic.
Bleu_Bayou42
July 4th, 2010
4:42 pm
Yal are idiots. Welcome back Joe.
Chip Shot
July 4th, 2010
4:44 pm
the hawks are about to make a serious move to becoming a contender, i can feel it.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 4th, 2010
4:44 pm
“i would work out a deal for CP3 now. the blazers basically offered the hornets like players to try to get paul and none of the players offered were any good except andre miller.”
The Hornets rejected that trade.
Nobody is getting CP3 unless they give them a ton of lottery picks and take back Okafor.
bap
July 4th, 2010
4:44 pm
za za needs to be traded good energy but like Marvin Williams they don’t know how to use there athleticism. Lst year teague should have been starting but woodson just let him rot on the bench. Speaking of bench if your not going to spend money on bench then utilize the dleague and bring up there top scorers gstate does this so well. Use all your bench not just an 8 man rotation that is how u stay fresh come playoffs.
bigdave
July 4th, 2010
4:45 pm
of course that is the same blog that MC referenced in the damn opening paragraphs…
smh.. (putting down iphone now)
Najeh Davenpoop
July 4th, 2010
4:45 pm
““On his way out of the gym, Michael Jordan — on hand to scout him for the Washington Wizards – told me, (”Mark my word: Joe could turn out to be the best player in the 2001 draft.”)””
This was the funniest line to me. If Jordan thought so highly of Joe, why did he take Kwame Brown with the #1 pick?
Michael Cunningham
July 4th, 2010
4:46 pm
@Gilley: i saw that they’d been discussing one but not sure if it made it into the deal. i’d be very shocked if it did. as far as i know, Kobe is the only guy in the league that has one and Dirk is talking about getting one in Dallas.
Dr. Gynoid
July 4th, 2010
4:48 pm
Hawks should’ve signed Lebron and Wade. Both of them are better than Joe. If they’d signed both of those guys, the Hawks would really be in business. I’m going to boycott the Hawks for the next six years because they failed to sign both Lebron and Wade and instead signed Joe. I’m done with them now! Sund is an idiot for not signing Lebron and Wade!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
July 4th, 2010
4:48 pm
“it’s a good day for fans who are satisfied with making the playoffs, but it’s a miserable day for those of us who know we are still one major player away from winning it all!!”
If Joe had walked, are you confident that Rick Sund would have found that “major player”?
I’m not.
4 Jacks
July 4th, 2010
4:48 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…LMAO..Way to go ASG, another brillant move. Mr. I Don’t Show Up for the Playoffs gets all that dough…Win your 50 games and get beat in the first or second round again. Do it without my money this year, and hey Joe, I really don’t care if you show up or not.
Michael Cunningham
July 4th, 2010
4:48 pm
@Prickly Pete: “If the Hawks have $63 million tied up in 10 players, how much room does that leave them under the cap? Thanks.”
they have no cap room. the only way to add free agents is with the mid-level, bi annual and minimum exceptions.
Real Hawks Fan!
July 4th, 2010
4:49 pm
PEOPLE IN THE A LOVE TO HATE!
bigdave
July 4th, 2010
4:50 pm
poop..
exception Lakers… Kwame might have been numero uno on everyone’s board..
not a GM in the league that wouldnt have looked like a fool with that one..
Thanks Joe!
July 4th, 2010
4:50 pm
Bleu_Bayou42 ….I’m with you 100% ….Suddenly we have all these NBA professionals with commentator opinions who believe they know more than the Hawks management does…..Welcome back Joe!
Michael Cunningham
July 4th, 2010
4:50 pm
@ Section 303: “As I was booing Joe off the floor when he was taken out of Game 4 against Orlando, I never thought he would be back in a Hawks uniform again. I’m glad he is….just as long as I hear “I’m sorry for what I said” come out of his mouth.”
i’ve wondered how much of the anti-Joe venom was related to this. . .
Muhammad Cali
July 4th, 2010
4:51 pm
10 things that will happen in this year’s free agency.
1) Stoudemire will end up in New York orange, blue, and white
New Jersey will lose out
2) Lebron will stay in Cleveland
3) Shaq will sign with Atlanta to help them make a run for a title.
4) Dewayne Wade will sign with Chicago and bring Chris Bosh with him
5) The Celtics big three will stay in place
6) Shaq and Joe Johnson will bring Iverson to Atlanta to finish out his career and to add charisma and grit to the locker room.
7) The Knicks will also get Monta Ellis, Al Jefferson will go to the Warriors.
9) Miami will lose out
10) Carmelo and Tony Parker will end up being New York Knickerbockers when the smoke clears from this year’s free agency.
Most Improved team next year: New York Knicks
Championship team TBD hard to call this early of course.
Real Hawks Fan!
July 4th, 2010
4:52 pm
ATLANTA HAS THE WORST FANS IN THE NBA!!!!!!!!! AND NFL!!!!!!!! SHIP HOPPERS!
vava74
July 4th, 2010
4:53 pm
Glad that JJ is back. A lot.
Would have preferred to pay less but it’s the law of the market: offer and demand.
We could not bargain with JJ since we could not afford any other major free agent and JJ was being courted by many willing to offer him 90+ million for 5 years.
Now, let’s be creative and find a way to balance our roster a bit better.
WE WON 53 GAMES WITH THIS CREW UNDER AN PAINFULLY LIMITED COACH.
If Drew is able to install a more varied offense and use the switching D only as one possible defensive strategy out of many variations (man to man, zone, …) we can easily win 57-60 games
and be competitive in the playoffs.
Leslie
July 4th, 2010
4:54 pm
when does football season start
terrell
July 4th, 2010
4:55 pm
So much for Joe taking a little less money to bring in more talent like Dirk did. But oh well, time to move on. Gotta make a trade now to get some depth. Too many sg’s on the team. JJ,Jamal, Mo, Jordan, and Bibby.(who can no longer play pg). Need a sf(Chills?), a center, and another pg. Bibby should be the 3rd pg.
chuckw/deadjournalist
July 4th, 2010
4:55 pm
MC – Theoretically, couldn’t the Hawks trade under-contract players to a team under the cap (Clips, Nets, etc.) in exchange for future picks/considerations to free up cap space?
Realistically, I can’t imagine JJ having the pull to bring one of the Big 3 to the table to even talk to the Hawks about a s/t, etc. But if he does, and if a deal were to get done, I would take back everything bad I’ve said about JJ and this contact.
Roger
July 4th, 2010
4:57 pm
Wow – $120 mil for a ball hawking 2 guard who, in too many situations refuses to pass the ball until either he, or a teammate has to take a desparation shot. When the Hawks first got Joe, I started going to less games because we overpaid for the Suns 3rd or 4th best player and now, I’ll watch more at home because I refuse to help pay the salary of such an overrated player….
terrell
July 4th, 2010
4:59 pm
Bap, did you forget? Woody’s gone. No more 7-8 man rotations. And with our depth at sg, no more 45 min games from JJ. Gotta keep him fresh if we want him to still have legs in the latter part of that contract.
Rono
July 4th, 2010
5:00 pm
Welcome Back JJ! We’re glad to have you here. Now let’s recruit more vets for the home team! Now we need to sign and trade Childress… Add Muhammed, or Mbenga. Also consider adding Farmar. If we can do that, will it work?
Rono
July 4th, 2010
5:01 pm
Let’s give Iverson a shot – 1 year agreement.
terrell
July 4th, 2010
5:01 pm
Why’s we take Jordan Crawford if we planned on offering Joe the max, knowing good and darn well that he’d accept? I see a trade coming. Probably involving Jamal or Marvin. Or both.
Reid Adair
July 4th, 2010
5:03 pm
Well, you got what you wanted, Michael. I think this is a major block to keep the Hawks from moving forward (more than 50-55 wins and a playoff berth).
And, while Joe Johnson may be “grounded,” his concerns certainly aren’t the fans who buy the tickets or the team’s post-season performance.
JMar
July 4th, 2010
5:05 pm
“Bibby will be a good backup. You will have to stand in a long line to convince me he can’t shoot the ball.”
The league is full of decent shooters who can’t play defense who cost a lot less than $6 million. In fact, there are free agents that are better shooters who play better defense that are likely to sign for less.
Section 303
July 4th, 2010
5:05 pm
Michael, I think a lot of the anti-Joe venom was fueled by what he said to the fans. In fact, I think he does not even get booed had he not made his “we could careless” comments. Joe owes an apology. I am assuming we will hear one at the presser. Any idea when that will be?
terrell
July 4th, 2010
5:06 pm
Nikki Free, have you ever posted on here before? I guess this is your 1st, and your last post? lol! You people act like it’s coming out of your pockets. Joe is the ONLY player that we could pay that type of cash to. Be happy and move on.
HawkFan
July 4th, 2010
5:07 pm
Thank goodness Joe is back! His talent is under-appreciated in this town. I can’t for the season to start and see how Coach Drew approaches the offense…..I got a feeling things will go well. I also got a feeling that Marvin Williams is going to have a break out year, based on the fact that he will be in a new offensive system, that might actually involve him (unlike woody). The biggest factor of the upcoming season will be if JT0 can blossom into a starting point guard, he is quick and gritty player, hopefully he will get off to a great start and establish confidence that will carry him through the season. GO HAWKS!!!!! WELCOME BACK JOE!
The Charismatic Enigma
July 4th, 2010
5:08 pm
I’ll be fine w/this deal IF Joe would apologize to me personally and clean my feet. I’m guessing he’ll probably be willing to do that around mid-week. Right now his people and my people are trying to schedule it. Will keep you posted.
Michael Cunningham
July 4th, 2010
5:08 pm
@deadjournalist: “Theoretically, couldn’t the Hawks trade under-contract players to a team under the cap (Clips, Nets, etc.) in exchange for future picks/considerations to free up cap space?”
yes they could do this but only if they end up under the cap after the trade: http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q70
Section 303
July 4th, 2010
5:09 pm
JMar, like I said, wait the offseason out. I agree that Bibby is overpriced, but he can still contribute. He may not even be here, though. Some rumors about Bibby and Marvin being traded to Golden State. I will join you dancing in the street if that trade is true and it fetches either Ellis or Biedrins.
Still….Bibby can do somethings. Plus, if he is here, then his contract will be an attractive trading chip for the Hawks next year.