Joe Johnson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Bucks, Arena, Nets

August 30th, 2015 at 4:45pm CST by Will Joseph

With a nucleus of young and mostly established players including Michael Carter-Williams, Khris Middleton, Jabari Parker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greg Monroe and John Henson, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders opines that there’s a strong chance the Bucks emerge this season as one of the top teams out of the Eastern Conference. Hamilton also adds that the young players respect head coach Jason Kidd, perhaps more than a veteran would, given Kidd’s age, and that should make winning come a bit easier for the team.

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference:

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who signed a bill that calls for $250MM of public financing for a new arena for the Bucks, called the proposed investment “fiscally responsible,” on NBC’s Meet the Press (h/t SI.com’s Chris Mannix). Walker has long backed the arena project and said when the bill emerged from the state legislature late last month that he’d sign it. The team must still arrange for a land sale with Milwaukee County and receive approval for construction from the Milwaukee Common Council, but Bucks executives have said that can take place between now and the fall.
After the worst statistical season since his second year in the league, Joe Johnson, judging from his physique in photos and videos posted on his Instagram feed, appears to be ready for this season, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily writes. Johnson, who was the subject of trade rumors earlier this summer, will likely start at shooting guard, according to Nets head coach Lionel Hollins.

Atlantic Notes: Nets, Knicks, Celtics

August 1st, 2015 at 10:48am CST by Will Joseph

Nets coach Lionel Hollins, in a Q&A with Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com, likes that Brooklyn was able to get younger and more versatile this offseason. The coach also believes Deron Williams did not play as well as the franchise would have liked him to. Hollins said he also thinks Williams, who signed with the Mavs, will bounce back, though. Without Williams in the fold, Hollins is confident Jarrett Jack can handle the duties of starting point guard for the Nets. In addition, Joe Johnson, who was the subject of trade rumors earlier this summer, will likely start at shooting guard, according to Hollins.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The search for the Knicks‘ new D-League coach is down to Mike Miller, a former associate head coach at Kansas State, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports (Twitter links). Miller also worked for the Spurs’ D-League team, Isola notes.
Thomas Robinson, who the Nets signed to a two-year deal, wants a “long-term relationship” with Brooklyn after the forward has bounced around in the league, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily writes.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge believes that Boston coach Brad Stevens will be viewed as one of the all-time coaching greats in the future. “I wouldn’t have brought him in and given him a six-year contract if I didn’t think he was really good and special,” Ainge said during an on-camera interview with Comcast SportsNet (relayed by Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com).

Atlantic Notes: Biyombo, Nets, Jones, Ledo

July 31st, 2015 at 11:01am CST by Chuck Myron

A relationship that goes back a while and a shared cultural heritage with GM Masai Ujiri paved the way for Bismack Biyombo to accept an offer from the Raptors after Ujiri called him three minutes into the free agent negotiating period, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun details. Both Biyombo and Ujiri are natives of Africa. Ujiri is excited about the center he signed using the room exception, citing Biyombo’s passion for the game, offensive rebounding, shot blocking, defense, physicality and more, Wolstat relays. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Nets insiders tell NetsDaily that the team would be OK with paying a small amount of luxury tax, but one source says it’ll be a long time before Brooklyn becomes a taxpayer again, if it ever does. The guaranteed salaries for the Nets this season total less than the $84.74MM tax threshold, though taxes are based on the roster as of the final day of the regular season.
The Nets had long preferred to rid themselves of Deron Williams instead of Joe Johnson, in part because of Johnson’s veteran presence and knack for scoring, as NetsDaily examines in a separate piece, hearing from sources who suggest Williams’ departure will ease Johnson’s mind, since they didn’t get along.
It’s not certain that Perry Jones III will be on the Celtics roster come opening night, as the team has 17 fully guaranteed contracts, but Boston intends to give the former 28th overall pick every opportunity to stick, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. “With OKC, there hasn’t been as much of an opportunity for him to play as much as he would like as a youngster on a team trying to compete for a championship,” Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said earlier this week. “But [he is] very athletic, a different type of player than we have in the frontcourt right now with his athleticism and length.”
The Knicks front office was higher on Ricky Ledo than the coaching staff was, sources indicated to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The team waived Ledo on Thursday rather than guarantee a portion of his salary.
It’s been nearly three weeks since the Sixers said Joel Embiid would have surgery on his foot within seven to 10 days, and the team’s silence in that time raises no shortage of questions, as Tom Moore of Calkins Media examines.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Bargnani, Shved, Johnson

July 11th, 2015 at 12:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks GM Steve Mills says that the team didn’t strike out in free agency despite missing out on the top available names on the market, but instead New York focused on building a solid team to surround star forward Carmelo Anthony with, Mitch Abramson of The New York Daily News relays. “We tried to be as clear as we could possibly be that we weren’t chasing the biggest stars,” Mills said. “That’s not how we’re trying to build this team. Obviously, when LaMarcus Aldridge says he wants to meet with you and he’s going to meet with six teams, we agree to go meet with him. DeAndre Jordan was willing to meet with us, so of course we go and meet him. And when you go in, you want guys to say yes. But our goal starting out with this was to spend our money wisely and to get guys in who we thought would bring this team along together and fill holes and as it turned out, we were better suited going with multiple guys as opposed to just going after one.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Former Knicks forward Andrea Bargnani, in an interview with La Gazetta (h/t to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com), said he has several free agent options and hasn’t ruled out returning to play in Europe for the 2015/16 season.
Mills said that the Knicks could use their $2.8MM room exception to add some scoring punch to the team, and New York could look to ink guard Alexey Shved, Marc Berman of The New York Post relays (Twitter link). Shved, 26, appeared in 16 contests last season for the Knicks, averaging 14.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 26.4 minutes per game. He already rejected a minimum offer from the team, reports Begley (Twitter link).
In the wake of the Nets‘ reported buyout arrangement with point guard Deron Williams, the team now appears intent on keeping Joe Johnson, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter). Stein’s sources inform him that moving Williams was always the team’s preferred option.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Hackett, Nets

July 9th, 2015 at 9:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics‘ primary goal this season will be to make he franchise as attractive as possible to free agents hitting the market during next Summer, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. With the team expected to have approximately $40MM to spend on free agents in 2016, the team has to develop its young core enough to convince big names like Kevin Durant that they can win in Beantown, Blakely adds.

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Euro guard Daniel Hackett will work out for the Knicks in Las Vegas, David Pick of Eurobasket relays (Twitter links). Hackett, who is also on the radar of the Mavs and Rockets, was offered a contract by the Greek club Olympiacos, but the 27-year-old wants to explore his NBA opportunities before heading back overseas, Pick adds.
Nets GM Billy King‘s first two calls when the free agent signing period began were to Shane Larkin and Thomas Robinson, Rod Boone of Newsday tweets. Both players officially signed with Brooklyn today.
When King was asked if he expected Deron Williams and Joe Johnson to remain on the Nets‘ roster, he responded, “at this point, yes,” Boone tweets. King also indicated that the reports of the team trying to deal Johnson have been exaggerated, Boone adds.
The Knicks are still in contact with the representatives for Alexey Shved, Cole Aldrich and Louis Amundson, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com tweets.
The Nets will still look to add another big man to the roster, King indicated, but the team wants to get as close to, if not under, the luxury tax line as it can, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter).

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Jefferson, Kaun

July 7th, 2015 at 7:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics have failed to land a major star via free agency thus far this offseason, but being free of burdensome contracts heading into the summer of 2016 will set the franchise up to be major players, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. Salary cap experts are saying that Boston could potentially get themselves $39MM-$50MM under the cap if they play their cards properly, which means they could have the ability to sign two free agents to maximum contracts next offseason, Bulpett adds. The Boston Herald scribe also notes that it may be easier for the team to land two stars rather than one in the same offseason since players want to go where they have the opportunity to win, and signing as a duo would hold more potential appeal.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks are one of several teams to express interest in unrestricted free agent guard John Jenkins, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports (Twitter link).
Nets forward Cory Jefferson has been forced to cease Summer League play due to an ankle injury he has been struggling with, Shams Charania of RealGM relays (on Twitter). If Jefferson remains on Brooklyn’s roster past July 15th his contract for 2015/16 will become partially guaranteed for $150k, and this setback isn’t expected to affect Jefferson’s roster spot, Charania notes.
If the Cavaliers and the Nets end up striking a deal to send Joe Johnson to Cleveland, there is a very good chance that the draft rights to Sasha Kaun head to Brooklyn in the transaction, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily tweets. The 30-year-old center has reportedly been a target of the Nets’ this offseason, though the talks between the two franchises appear to be stalled for the moment.
As much as the Raptors may end up missing Lou Williams‘ offensive game, the team is glad to have rid itself of the distractions that the guard brought to the squad, Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun writes. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year agreed to a three-year, $21MM arrangement with the Lakers, and if Nick Young isn’t traded, which the Lakers are reportedly exploring doing, it will certainly make for an entertaining locker room in Los Angeles in 2015/16.

Cavs, Nets Joe Johnson Talks Stall

July 7th, 2015 at 11:28am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 11:28am: Cleveland and Brooklyn haven’t spoken for three days, Broussard said on SportsCenter (Twitter link via Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com). Mazzeo indicates that the talks are dead as the Cavs focus elsewhere.

12:50pm: The Cavs were the first to show resistance to the deal, based on their tax concerns, and now the Nets aren’t all that enthusiastic, either, as a transcription of Broussard’s SportsCenter appearance on NetsDaily reveals. LeBron James, who wants the Cavs roster to be as loaded as possible, is watching as he lingers in free agency, Broussard reminds.

MONDAY, 12:20pm: The Nets have been looking for a third team to take on Varejao’s contract, but the talks with the Cavs are on hold for now, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN (Twitter link via ESPN colleague Mike Mazzeo).

4:55pm: The Johnson trade talks are preliminary and not likely to be productive, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily.com tweets.

SUNDAY, 3:33pm: The Cavaliers are interested in using Brendan Haywood‘s bloated non-guaranteed salary as ballast in a trade that would bring in Joe Johnson, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Cleveland would have to send additional salaries to Brooklyn to make the salary matching work, but Windhorst suggests that Anderson Varejao is a possibility to go to the Nets.

The Nets have been actively shopping Johnson in recent days and they’ve had talks with the Grizzlies about the veteran. The Pistons and Hornets, also spoke with Brooklyn about him this past season, despite his severely bloated contract. Johnson, who averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.7 APG in 34.9 minutes per contest last season, is the second-highest paid player in the league at $24.8MM for 2015/16. He’s not a great value, but he is still a strong scorer and would give Cleveland some additional outside shooting. While moving his salary would lift a great luxury tax burden off of Mikhail Prokhorov’s shoulders, it would have the inverse affect on the Cavs’ finances.

Haywood has a $10.5MM non-guaranteed deal that has huge financial implications for a team if waived prior to August 1st. Trading for and waiving Haywood could save the Nets tens of millions in tax payments. Still, there would need to be more, such as Varejao, coming from Cleveland to Brooklyn in order to make a swap work.

The Cavs are poised to go over the tax threshold by quite a bit if they re-sign most of their free agents, as GM David Griffin has indicated he wants to do, but for now, they’re below the tax line, which is projected to come in at around $82MM when the league sets the figure at the end of the July Moratorium. So, they can take in as much as $15,522,500 via trade using the Haywood contract, which calls for a non-guaranteed salary of $5MM less than that amount, as long as that trade doesn’t take them into tax territory. If they do a trade involving Haywood at a point when it would either cause them to cross the tax line or when they already have crossed the tax line, they could only take in $13,253,125 using Haywood’s salary. The Nets are already well into tax territory, so they can’t bring in more than 125% plus $100K than they send out.

If the Cavs send both Haywood and Varejao to the Nets, it won’t matter whether Cleveland is above or below the tax line, since the salary-matching rules would be the same: The Cavs would be limited to taking in 125% plus $100K. Johnson’s deal would fit within those parameters.

Varejao, when healthy, is a capable rebounder and scorer, but health issues have dogged him in recent years. Over the last five seasons, Varejao has missed 50+ contests in four of those campaigns. In his “healthiest” of those five seasons, Varejao played in 65 regular season games. For his career, the big man has averaged 7.9 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 25. 8 minutes per night.

The possibility of moving Varejao could be behind the Cavs’ interest in free-agent forward David West over the last several days, Windhorst writes. West has indicated he wants to play for a Finals contender, and the Cavs have been attempting to recruit him, sources told Windhorst.

Cavs Rumors: Smith, Crawford, Love

July 6th, 2015 at 3:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers struck deals on the first day of free agency with Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert, and they were reportedly close to doing the same with Tristan Thompson the same day, but their pace has slowed considerably since then. The Thompson talks have reportedly bogged down, with LeBron James apparently unwilling to talk about a deal for himself until Thompson, a fellow Rich Paul client, is taken care of. The Joe Johnson trade discussions with the Nets appear to be in limbo, too. Still, there are plenty of rumors, as we’ll pass along:

The Cavs don’t see the wisdom in giving J.R. Smith the long-term deal he’s seeking, and Smith “pretty much signed his exit papers” from Cleveland when he opted out, writes Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. That’s in spite of Smith’s apparent inclination to remain in Cleveland and LeBron’s desire to have the former Sixth Man of the Year back. Still, James is a fan of Johnson, and Pluto suggests the Nets swingman as a possible replacement for Smith on the wing. Those talks with the Nets about Johnson appear to be stagnant, however.
Pluto hears rumors linking the Cavs to Jamal Crawford, and the Plain Dealer scribe suggests Crawford as another possible trade target with the Brendan Haywood contract. The Clippers were reportedly exploring trades for Crawford shortly before the draft.
The Cavs and Love had a verbal agreement in place before July 1st, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group hears. That would technically violate collective bargaining agreement rules, since the sides weren’t allowed to talk contract until this month, but the practice of engaging in clandestine early negotiations wouldn’t exactly be unprecedented, Haynes notes.

Eastern Notes: Johnson, Watson, Dellavedova

July 2nd, 2015 at 10:08pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Nets have been actively shopping veteran forward Joe Johnson over the past few days, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Brooklyn hasn’t had much luck in finding a taker, as teams are leery of taking on Johnson’s $24,894,863 salary for the 2015/16 campaign, which is the final year of his deal, as well as gutting their rosters to acquire the 34-year-old, Mazzeo adds.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

The Wizards refused to compromise their salary cap space for the summer of 2016, when Kevin Durant is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent, in order to re-sign veteran Paul Pierce, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com writes. This was the same stance the franchise took regarding Trevor Ariza, who ended up signing with the Rockets last summer, Michael notes. Pierce agreed to a three-year, approximately $10MM deal with the Clippers this week.
The Cavaliers and free agent point guard Matthew Dellavedova are making progress in their discussions to bring the Australian back to Cleveland next season, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets. Dellavedova is seeking a multiyear deal in the $3MM-$5MM range annually, Charania adds.
The Wizards have expressed interest in free agent guard C.J. Watson, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post notes (Twitter link). Watson is intent on signing for the mid-level exception, which is not necessarily what Washington is currently offering, Michael tweets.
Greg Monroe chose to sign with the Bucks because they were the most playoff ready team of all his suitors, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report tweets.
The Wizards could be a potential landing spot for free agent forward Chris Copeland, tweets Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report. Washington is also reportedly in discussions with the Bucks regarding a trade for Jared Dudley.
Prior to reaching an agreement on his five-year, $90MM deal with the Heat, Goran Dragic asked team president Pat Riley how he could be flexible to aid the franchise in retaining Dwyane Wade, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com writes (on Twitter). Wade and Miami agreed to a one-year, $20MM arrangement earlier today.

Nets, Grizzlies Spoke About Joe Johnson

June 29th, 2015 at 5:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

5:46pm: The talks were exploratory in nature, a “brief discussion” that never became a negotiation, a league source told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

9:14am: The Nets and Grizzlies had recent talks about a trade involving Joe Johnson, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The sides were unable to come away with the framework of a deal, but the exchange nonetheless left Brooklyn encouraged that it will find a taker for Johnson’s nearly $24.895MM salary for next season, Stein adds (on Twitter).

Johnson’s deal presents obvious challenges even though it runs out after this coming season, as few teams have the flexibility to simply absorb it into cap space, and coming up with matching salaries would be a chore. Still, Memphis is the latest team to at least show interest in acquiring the swingman who turns 34 today, joining the Pistons and Hornets, who reportedly spoke with Brooklyn about him this past season. Both teams have since made other acquisitions that likely knock them out of the running for Johnson, as Stein points out, but there nonetheless appears to be a market, and that’s key for the Nets, who would have to pay repeat-offender tax penalties if they’re again over the tax line come the end of the 2015/16 regular season.

The Grizzlies have also been going after Danilo Gallinari, showing a clear desire for an upgrade on the wing, as Stein points out. Memphis will likely have to make any major addition via trade, since Jeff Green‘s decision to opt in cut off any realistic possibility the team has of creating significant cap space if Marc Gasol re-signs.