Johnson Wants To Play For Atlanta

[joma]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_a.../johnson_genuinely_wants_to_play_for_atlanta/

AZCentral.com - According to John Gambadoro, Joe Johnson has told people close to him that he wants to part ways with the Phoenix Suns and play for the Atlanta Hawks .

Johnson is convinced that he cannot be an All-Star playing behind Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion and Steve Nash and that he if goes to Atlanta he can be the focal point of a young team on the rise.

Johnson is expected to sign a five-year, $70 million dollar offer sheet from Atlanta next week and hopes that the Suns don't match. That way he could team with Josh Smith, Josh Childress and Marvin Williams on a team that would feature four good young players under the age of 24. And being from the South, he would be playing closer to home. Johnson is apparently furious that the Suns did not take care of his contract status last year, opting instead to sign Quentin Richardson and then offering him less than a maximum deal this month.

This makes me kind of sad. we could have had johnson

 

[d3]

wow....kid wants to play on one of the worst teams in the NBA ? thank god we didnt get him. we dont one someone lwit that kida attitude

 

[Mac]

You cant be mad that he wants to be the man on a team, everybody wants that and being a free agent he wants that option, but unfortuenently for him, he will be in a Suns uni unless Atlanta can work out a sign and trade of some sort.

Atlanta is a bad team, but they have some nice young players. They may never be championship contenders, but a good team none the less.

 

[TrueCavsFan23]

i just wished atlanta would have taken paul at number 2.they needed a pg but instead they went after a SF when they have smith,childress and chris crawford.now they might have joe johnson,joe can play backup pg but i wouldnt want him starting pg for me.

 

[Glen Infante]

Phoenix hasn't really said anything on matching this offer. I am suprised. I was almost certain that they would match it right away. But they are now having concerns because 70 million is alot of dough to lock up on one player when you already have 3 all stars on your team.

Looks like the Suns may have been a one season wonder. Now they can focus on getting Michael Finely to replace that void.

 

[NarlCavs]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It seemed that Phoenix would always match any offer. I like the Cavs addition of Hughes but Johnson was my #1 choice.

This is just rumor. None of this talk is coming directly from Johnson. Everything that I've read and heard about him in the past never indicated he wanted to be the man and wasn't willing to share the spotlight with teammates.

Also, who the hell is John Gambadoro? I can't buy what he says as absolute fact. He sounds like a character on The Sopranos.

 

[cdt]

Getting Larry was the right choice, he is unresitricted and had we gambled on JJ they could have matched and we would be screwed. We did the safe thing but came away with a helluva player.

 

[Bonafide]

Atl is way too stacked at the G/F position..why would they get another one?

 

[cdt]

because they are atlanta and will be bottomfeeders for all eternity.

 

[Troy Wingate]

Going by what happenin, we could've had Joe Johnson, BUT, if JJ had agreed to sign a max deal with Cleveland, it's very possible Phoenix would've matched, thus leaving us without Larry Hughes.

If Joe really wants to go to Atlanta, I think the Suns may let him go because they don't have to worry about his new team whooping their butts, like that would be the case had he come to Cleveland. But it's Atlanta, and they just plain suck, so whether they Johnson or not, they're staying in the lottery.

 

[CRWine+Gold]

I bet that they play JJ at the 1, with Josh Childress at the 2, Josh Smith at the 3, and Marvin at the 4, it really isn't that complicated, they might be small, but no one and I mean no one will be able to run with them consistently, that is going to be a fun ass team to watch next season. Al Harrington is done there.

 

[LyXo]

Doesn't matter what Joe Johnson says. Or his agent. Or anyone. Silly article. There's no way JJ can gain more leverage. He knows he's getting a max deal. Too bad Phoenix has the trump card of matching rights. Besides, once Atlanta came out saying they were going to offer JJ a max deal, Phoenix rebutted right back that they would match. Do they really have to open their doors everyday to tell people the same thing?

Phoenix made the decision to retain JJ when they traded Q for Kurt Thomas. JJ is probably pissed off that Phoenix is doing what they should be: no extension, then lowball offer, now they can match to keep him. The best thing he can do is sign that 1yr tender offer. Which wouldn't help us out because we need help now.