Atlanta Hawks: Hawks agree to trade Joe Johnson to New Jersey, Marvin Williams to Utah

The Hawks and Nets have agreed to terms on a trade that would send All-Star guard Joe Johnson to Brooklyn for multiple players with expiring contracts and a first-round draft pick, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

Update: The Hawks also have agreed to trade forward Marvin Williams to Utah for point guard Devin Harris, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement.

Trades can’t be officially consummated until the NBA moratorium ends on July 11 but the person said the Hawks have agreed on the framework of the deals with the Nets and Jazz.

The person said in exchange for Johnson, the Hawks would receive Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow, Johan Petro, DeShawn Stevenson and Jordan Williams from the Nets. Atlanta also would receive the lottery-protected, 2013 first-round draft pick that the Nets acquired in a trade with the Rockets.

Williams is meeting with the Nets and Mavericks today. The Nets plan to pair Johnson with Williams and re-sign free-agent center Brook Lopez to form the core of the team when it plays its first season in Brooklyn in 2012-13.

It was initially believed Atlanta’s deal with the Nets is contingent on Williams agreeing to re-sign with Brooklyn but multiple reports now say the agreement will remain in place even if Williams decides to go elsewhere.

If the deal goes through, the Hawks would be left with less talent but with more ability to make major moves in the future after shedding Johnson’s contract. Such flexibility was the stated goal of Hawks GM Danny Ferry after he was hired last week.

Johnson, 31, is owed nearly $90 million over the final four years of a contract he signed in summer 2010. It was the richest contract in the league at the time, though Derrick Rose now is owed more than Johnson since signing a contract extension.

The Hawks could be in position to clear roughly $30 million in salary-cap space after the 2012-13 season. Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are among the players eligible to become free agents next summer.

Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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1,057 comments Add your comment

mock1

July 2nd, 2012
9:46 pm

Praise the Lord!!! We have finally been sent a GM that actually make moves that makes common sense!! Joe & Marvin in the same day!!! Imma drink 2 that!!! :) )

SSG Desert Dawg

July 2nd, 2012
9:46 pm

If we get Devin Harris, does that mean that Jeff Teague is the next to go? I doubt Farmar will last long with the expiring contract…

kirkinga

July 2nd, 2012
9:48 pm

Sounds like a bunch of people are content about sucking this next year, just so they can potentially be better in the long term future. :rolls eyes:

Here is a fundamental divide amongst Hawks fans. Some want the illusion of making it to the playoffs and getting blown out. The rest want to make it to the playoffs and watch the team play hard for 4 quarters. There were 15 other teams that made it to the playoffs without Marvin and Joe on their team and the Hawks can do it too.

MattP

July 2nd, 2012
9:48 pm

SSG Desert Dawg,

Teague might be a trade piece to go along with Smith or Horford.

Danny Ferry's JOCKSTRAP

July 2nd, 2012
9:49 pm

Here hold this!

another comment

July 2nd, 2012
9:49 pm

I really hate to see Marvin Williams Jr. leave. I had the pleasure to live accross the street from him last year. He is a fine young man. He lives way below his means. He does not travel with a Posse, just his Cousin Juan. Both of them were very nice to the kids in the neighborhood. My daughter appreciated the large purchase of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. He also, made a large sponsorship of my neighbor’s son in the school lap run a thon.

Marvin along with his cousin Juan will be missed by all of his neighbors.

He was not a thug like Jamal Crawford who let his Pit bulls tear up a house he rented, then sued the owner.

O'Brien

July 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm

PG: Deron
SG: JJ
SF: Wallace
PF: Humphries
C: Lopez

Not bad team on paper. They should be competing for spots 5-8 in the East (imo).

JJ,

Thanks for all your hard work. At least now you’ll play for an owner who has boatloads of money, play with a top 5 PG, and you should have an improvement at HC. Plus you’ll get unlimited VIP access to 40/40

Shadrian Washington

July 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm

Marvin Williams was almost traded today to Utah for Devin Harris..Gud job Danny Ferry

Ray

July 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm

Nope Teague probably won’t be gone, but with Devin Harris that’s extreme insurance in the case Teague goes down with an injury we just got that much better. At least at the PG position that’s three guards

Devin Harris Farmar >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Kirk Hinrich and Pargo.

atllantaradiosucks

July 2nd, 2012
9:51 pm

in a week Ferry has done what Sund/Knight/ASG couldn’t do in years. JJ is a GOOD player–FAR from a $120 million star. Marvin– nice guy, not a guy you win with at all. Hawks may only win 30 games next season, but they are in WAAAY better shape now than they were hours ago. I hate Duke, but Ferry is officially worth rooting for.

D.S.G.B.

July 2nd, 2012
9:52 pm

Great job, Mr. Ferry. i really like the flexibility that you have provided the franchise. im excited to see what you have in store for the rest of the offseason! Pairing dwight with josh would really be something! i hope you can do it. Best of wishes to you Mr. Ferry!

Cedric

July 2nd, 2012
9:52 pm

Hopefully Josh and Al can recruit some star level talent to play here, if not we will suck for years to come.

Melvin

July 2nd, 2012
9:52 pm

Melvin, he doesn’t need to sit down with Josh- Astro

RIGHT but you do know the quote I’m referring to. And Ferry made it a point to mention he’s going to sit down with Josh…. I posted on the last blog that Josh options may be limited in Free Agency. Nets, Knicks, Bulls, Celtics, Heat, Lakers and Clippers will not have cap space to sign him. So he may have to work with the Hawks in S&T deal if he wants to go to one of his preferred destination… Hawks may not be left at the altar like some may think….

Ray

July 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm

Not only that there is something big here a well known GM told Adrian Wojnarowski

THAT IF HE HAD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN Al HORFORD OR BYNUM HE WOULD PICK AL HORFORD WHY BECAUSE HORFORD WOULD PLAY EVERY NIGHT.

KEEP HORFORD FERRY

Najeh Davenpoop

July 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm

“What happened to the Nets first round pick? Some say we got one and others that we did not.”

They got the Rockets’ first round pick which the Nets owned due to a prior trade. That pick is lottery protected from 2013-2015, and if it is in the lottery each of those years, it becomes a second-round pick in 2016.

So basically, Houston has to make the playoffs at some point in the next three years for the Hawks to get that pick.

Najeh Davenpoop

July 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm

“If we get Devin Harris, does that mean that Jeff Teague is the next to go? I doubt Farmar will last long with the expiring contract…”

Farmar has been bought out. Harris will likely start the season as a backup, and if all goes well, will probably finish the season on someone else’s roster after being traded for a pick.

hawksfancents95

July 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm

trade
devin harris for kevin martin
devin harris for richard jefferson and a 1st from GSW
devin harris for luol deng
devin harris for tayshaun prince
devin harris for tyrus thomas and CHAR 1st pick(#1 only protected)

Happy Camper

July 2nd, 2012
9:56 pm

The best thing about trading JJ is the Hawks no longer have a #2 paid like a #1. Second, Joe had no passion or fire when it was really needed. Third, Joe performed his most mediocre during the playoffs. Forth, Joe’s salary had the team stuck in the Mud. If he played with more passion and drive I don’t think folks would have banged him about the salary, but he did not give a sh*t anyway. He will be better where he is not depended on to be the best player on the team.

The Monger

July 2nd, 2012
9:56 pm

The more I look at these players we got— Devin Harris, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmar… these guys can straight up SHOOT!!! I mean these are all 10-15 a game scorers throughout there careers, with really high FG percentages, and 3point percentages. We just got Jenkins, the best shooter in the college game, and now we add Morrow who according to wikipedia is described as “one of the best pure shooters in the NBA” and who has shot over 40 percent from 3 every season…these are some good players. Farmer and Harris are both amazing shooters as well, and all 3 of them Farmar, Harris, and Morrow are 90 percent free throw shooters. I just have a feeling with the great post defense we have with Al, Josh, and ZaZa…we are becoming the Spurs. How amazing would it be to see our guys like Teague, Jenkins, and Al turn into Tony Parker, Ginobli, and Duncan in their primes. I am REALLY excited for the season to start to say the least…

Ray

July 2nd, 2012
9:57 pm

Something tells me though that we don’t have to worry about Josh Smith leaving like most people think. Quite honestly I think after these moves his spirits are a bit lifted cause for awhile we didn’t have much help.

I agree with these 6 players we aren’t world beaters, but now we got chances to grab certain free agents next year or even this summer the offseason ain’t over yet.

I really really can’t express how good the Devin Harris pick up is seriously I can’t.

Najeh Davenpoop

July 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm

“Getting rid of Marvin and Joe doesn’t really tell us much about Ferry’s basketball philosophy. Almost anyone taking over the team would want cap space. Even casual basketball fans knew that cap space > Johnson’s contribution.

What Ferry does with Josh and/or Al will tell us more about how he will construct the team than what he did today.”

Co-sign. But getting rid of Joe and Marvin does tell us a lot about the DASG, specifically that its philosophy seems to have shifted from trying to maintain goodness at the expense of greatness to seriously trying to assemble a contender. And it tells us that Ferry is at least competent enough to find a way to move two contracts that many of us thought to be immovable.

shelly

July 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm

dont give ferry his props..he had to find a partner and without isaih thomas to rip off he found his old college teamate at duke, billy king, desperate & stupid..king has replaced isaih thomas as the worse GM in nba..remember this is the guy who just traded the 6th pick for gerald wallace and then overpaid him 4yrs/40M..no other team was going to pay wallace any thing close to that..with that contract king could’ve had wallace and that high draft pick..remember hawk fans ferry failed as a GM in other spots so dont get too excited..when things are bad for danny he can always rip off his friend billy king again billy king again

Kane337

July 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm

Holy crap. I’ve not been this happy as a Hawks fan since……the 80’s?

hawksfan

July 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm

what are the chances we go for roy hibbert or any other decent center in the league…also what about oj mayo…those would be some quality pieces….morrow is a good shooter with experince…just need a good person for the 5 and 3 spot..lots of good players available for 3 spot.

Hawk-eye

July 2nd, 2012
10:00 pm

HALLELUJAH,A MIRACLE HAS BEEN PERFORMED………………. :-)

Kane337

July 2nd, 2012
10:01 pm

The Hawks have thus quickly emerged as a potential destination for Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, who grew up in the Atlanta area and is close friends with Hawks swingman Josh Smith. Howard is also close with Anthony Morrow, one of five players that the Hawks will acquire from the Brooklyn Nets in their pending trade with the Nets for Johnson.

The flurry of action, after years of restraint from the Hawks, has also made a fast impression on Smith, sources said. Smith had been vocal for months about wanting to be dealt, but sources told ESPN.com that the swingman is excited about the direction Ferry has taken things in his brief time in charge.

Ray

July 2nd, 2012
10:01 pm

I’d love to have Roy Hibbert but he just got a max offer plus Indy might match it to keep him.

Kane337

July 2nd, 2012
10:01 pm

Buddy Grizzard

July 2nd, 2012
10:02 pm

“Another technical foul while sitting at the scorer’s table and Josh gets moved for another 17 guards. Jacque Vaughan and Sherman DOuglass are still out there, waiting to be acquired by Ferry.” – Astro Joe

Funniest ish that’s been posted on this blog in a while. Literally LOL’d.

Danny Ferry

July 2nd, 2012
10:02 pm

I got this folks!

kirkinga

July 2nd, 2012
10:04 pm

This —>Ferry is at least competent enough to find a way to move two contracts that many of us thought to be immovable.

We can also say that he can make a logical pick in the draft rather than reach for the “upside” guy or indulge some atypical fantasy about a team made up of all forwards.

Ray

July 2nd, 2012
10:05 pm

You know we just might lose Teague because apparently that will be part of Ferry’s plan to get Dwight Howard.

And CP3 wanted to play in ATL????

Timothy

July 2nd, 2012
10:05 pm

I really must say Danny Ferry is already my pick for GM of the year. Both these moves are total genius! In the short term the Hawks may flounder a bit this season, but let’s face it…we weren’t going to win the title with the same core anyway.
With these 2 moves we will be almost 30 million under the cap this summer! That’s enough to bring in Dwight AND another difference maker (even if not another max player)
In a best case scenario we could be looking at a core consisting of Dwight, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Chris Paul….that’s a group of guys I can see being a championship threat for a lot of years.
Loving Danny Ferry’s hiring so far! Keep up the great work!

mykhalc

July 2nd, 2012
10:06 pm

now the DASG can afford to eat LD’s contract and go get a real coach!!! get ‘er done DF!!!

boxxiethebull

July 2nd, 2012
10:08 pm

thankyouthankyouthankyou……now lets go get d12….howard horford smith frontcourt is nasty…ivan and zaza rotation backing them up is naste….teague needs help… and what about chris paul or steve nash…

bigdave

July 2nd, 2012
10:09 pm

RicBucher
That didn’t take long: now being told not to count out DH still making his way to the Nets. So list now is: 1.(Nets) Mavs.

Sautee

July 2nd, 2012
10:09 pm

myk,

You’d think that as little as LD makes, they could kick him upstairs as a consultant. At least he’d have a job, and we could get a real coach.

boxxiethebull

July 2nd, 2012
10:09 pm

i love danny ferry….i would have his baby, but im a guy…..

The Monger

July 2nd, 2012
10:10 pm

“Sounds like a bunch of people are content about sucking this next year, just so they can potentially be better in the long term future. :rolls eyes:”

Why does trading 2 underachieving, overpaid players…who showed no heart, had poor attitudes, were extremely streaky, and had loser mentalities, make us a bad team? We cleared TONS AND TONS of cap room, and we got talent back in this deal… I think with this team, as composed now, we have a great shot at becoming elite, and Ferry is going to make a big name signing (or 2) before its all said and done…

right now THIS SEASON we have a playoff team around the caliber of last year, and Ferry got rid of 155 million dollars worth of mistakes….how are you not getting this. We have ZERO really bad contracts now thanks to Ferry. We have tens of millions in cap space AND a playoff caliber roster within ONE WEEK of Ferry taking over. Our roster right now looks like….

PG- Jeff Teague, Devin Harris
SG- John Jenkins, Anthony Morrow
SF- ? (FA signing), Deshawn Stevenson
PF- Josh Smith, Mike Scott, Jordan Williams
C- Al Horford, ZaZa Pachulia, Johan Petro

And believe me, he will add a starting SF this year via trade or free agency…and my belief is it will be a Andre Igoudala type player… That right there, with Teague running the point, and Jenkins shooting, Al, Josh, and ZaZa on the glass with a slashing, scoring SF is a playoff team. Then the beauty of it, if you dont like this bench…all 5 contracts expire next year, and so does Josh’s…so if you dont like the team, you just start over with Teague, Al, Jenkins, ZaZa, Scott, Harris and a bunch of money….BEAUTIFUL!!!

kirkinga

July 2nd, 2012
10:11 pm

I don’t wish to pour it on when it comes to Josh, but his game and Howard’s game do not match well. I see even more outside shots for Josh should he become the primary outside option to Howard’s post work. Even worse, I see him sulking if he isn’t the primary outside option!

Kane337

July 2nd, 2012
10:11 pm

RT @TheBigLead: @ESPNSteinLine why would they keep Smith? Going w/ Smith/Horford/Howard is like Melo/Amare/Chandler (DWIGHT LOVES JOSH)
https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/219941575688601602

Black Mamba

July 2nd, 2012
10:12 pm

We need to sign Ilyasova!!!!!

Mike

July 2nd, 2012
10:12 pm

Don’t like the Johnson deal at all. Yes he was overpaid, but we got nothing in return except the ability to waste the money in another year on an unknown quantity which, combined with the real possibility of losing Josh Smith too will leave us a perennial lottery team. Only way this deal makes any sense is if Josh Smith has already agreed to stay which is doubtful unless Dwight Howard is coming which is not only doubtful, but a poor idea anyway because (1) he is a definate head case and (2) he has potential back issues.

Bottom line is that it would have been better to keep the big four together for one more year and give it a big shot at going all the way. I don’t buy the fact that this team lacked the talent to get by Boston anfd Philadelphia. What they lacked was health missing Smith, Horford and Pachulia during key times in the playoffs. With them healthy, there is no way they lose to Boston or Philly and they have a shot at the Bosh deprived Heat.

Shedding salary is of no value if you can replace it with more talent. So losing Johnson and Smith in back to back (or even this year) is a huge minus that I don’t see us recovering from for years. Ask Danny Ferry how good Cleveland was once they couldn’t resign LeBron.

mykhalc

July 2nd, 2012
10:13 pm

yo Sautee…anythin’ to get him outta that seat!!!LOL and i tell you what, when Morrow was at GS he freakin’ lit it up…cat can flat-out shoot!!!

Bama Hawk

July 2nd, 2012
10:14 pm

Drafting John Jenkings Doesnt look so bad now?

Sautee

July 2nd, 2012
10:14 pm

“Ask Danny Ferry how good Cleveland was once they couldn’t resign LeBron.”

Ferry left BEFORE “the Decision”.

O'Brien

July 2nd, 2012
10:15 pm

Sautee,

I havent looked it up, but there was a player that was traded twice in the same off-season not long ago. I’ll see if I can find it.

Sautee

July 2nd, 2012
10:16 pm

myk,

Yeah, we got a couple of true shooters. Let’s see how they work out. But no more sitting still.

Vick Supporter

July 2nd, 2012
10:17 pm

Why trade for Howard when we know he will leave. He’ll be here cryin around like he is now. We need to get a SUPERSTAR in the draft. Period.

Kane337

July 2nd, 2012
10:17 pm

People usually do better after leaving Cleveland…..see Bill Belichick and LeBron James.