Joe Johnson officially in Atlanta

[zmac]

On NBA.com if you havent noticed.

Soon as Belkin was removed we knew he was gonna be there.
He shoulda stayed......

[kinokong]

if belkin staye in atlanta, no team in their right minds would want to deal with them after this whole fiasco. he undermined the team and showed that the gm has no real power over transactions. greedy bastard... probably planned the whole thing to get a rich ass buyout

[Amphatoast]

maybe the hawks can actually be a decent team now

[Keo]

I think they still don't have a chance at making the Play-offs.

[Emiliano]

Glad this is over ...evrry team was waiting for this deal to end so they could start dealing again

[Anthony15]

Yeah, i'm glad this is over, too. Berlkin is pathetic...

[zmac]

I think Belkin is the only smart one.
They are paying him like 12 or so mil per season! Come on, its Joe Johnson, not Allen Iverson.

8 or 9 mil MAX! What else can he do apart from shoot? He isnt very good defensively, can grab a couple of boards like everyone else and maybe get an assist or two but nothin near 12mil worth....

Belkin was the only one using his head!

[Matt]

i agree, thye overpaid......but, the NBA is about overpaying at the moment and JJ still has potential to be something special. If they wanted to get better thy really had no choice. Now thye have a solid core for the future.

[Andrew]

The pressure will certainly be on Joe Johnson to have a great season in 2005/2006. He trashed the Suns and demanded the chance to be a superstar with superstar pay. Now that he's got his wish, he has to deliver. Otherwise he's just going to look worse for the way he handled the whole situation.

For the Suns, it was the best possible way out of the whole fiasco. Diaw's looked respectable in spots during his brief career and the draft picks could yield some help down the road. If they snare Finley they've pretty much salvaged their offseason, though JJ is obviously the better longterm investment.

For the Hawks, the only real loss is the draft picks. I can sort of understand Belkin's reluctance to give them up based on the fact Atlanta hasn't succeeded in snaring any of the top free agents despite having plenty to spend, but if JJ pans out and their other young players continue to develop it might encourage some good role players to come to Atlanta when they become free agents. I still think Belkin went about things the wrong way as well.

In summary...Phoenix made the best out of a bad situation and have some other options, while Atlanta got the player they wanted. I'd say it worked out as best it could given the circumstances.

[Buckley]

I think Atlanta won't make the playoffs in 05-06, but JJ could be an All-Star and possibly the Hawks could make the postseason in 06-07 (the picks they traded were lottery-protected, right?)

Andrew definitely summed up the trade really well, but obviously Atlanta wins in terms of trying to get better now.

[Wayne]

stupid minded i shall say Joe Johnson is...
being a part of ASG is not so important...winning the tittle wif a more reliable team is a better thing...

[zmac]

i agree, thye overpaid......but, the NBA is about overpaying at the moment and JJ still has potential to be something special. If they wanted to get better thy really had no choice. Now thye have a solid core for the future.

Not necessarily. They have Joe Johnsons massive contract plus they will have Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Marvin Williams and Salim Stoudemires contracts to deal with in a couple of years leaving them back where they started again.

If they sign Smith/Childress and any others to medium-big size contracts then their chances of resigning Williams and Stoudemire are slim

[Matt]

on the assumption that the team will stick together and that all players develop and deserve contracts. In all likeliness 2 or 3 of those guys will be gone soon, say when their contracts are up or through a trade sooner or later.

[beau_boy04]

I think Belkin is the only smart one.
They are paying him like 12 or so mil per season! Come on, its Joe Johnson, not Allen Iverson.

8 or 9 mil MAX! What else can he do apart from shoot? He isnt very good defensively, can grab a couple of boards like everyone else and maybe get an assist or two but nothin near 12mil worth....

Belkin was the only one using his head!

That is because they had players like Amare, Marion, and Nash to carry the load up and not just him.

I'm glad that JJ is in Atlanta now. I see a lot of potential in him and this year he will bloosom into a All-Star caliber player and soon into a franchise players. I see a 20-5-5 season for JJ this season coming up.

[Fresh8]

Well, since it is over i guess.. how will JJ do at starting point guard? I really have no idea what he would do with the rock.

[kinokong]

i agree, thye overpaid......but, the NBA is about overpaying at the moment and JJ still has potential to be something special. If they wanted to get better thy really had no choice. Now thye have a solid core for the future.

Not necessarily. They have Joe Johnsons massive contract plus they will have Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Marvin Williams and Salim Stoudemires contracts to deal with in a couple of years leaving them back where they started again.

If they sign Smith/Childress and any others to medium-big size contracts then their chances of resigning Williams and Stoudemire are slim

i know that atlanta is infatuated with 6'9 sf but y in the world would would they want to lock up all of them not to mention al harrington... i think a couple of them should be moved for players in other positions...

[Andrew]

Well, since it is over i guess.. how will JJ do at starting point guard? I really have no idea what he would do with the rock.

It'll be an interesting experiment, I personally have my doubts. He was noted for his versatility in Phoenix when he spent some time at point guard while Nash was on the bench (and out with injury), but it's one thing to fill in short term, another to fill a position fulltime. Johnson just doesn't strike me as being a point guard.

That's not to say it will fail miserably, but at this point I seriously doubt it will prove to be a stroke of genius either. I think it will work to a certain extent, but it's not going to propel the Hawks out of the NBA basement.

[John WB]

And Joe Johnson's going to find out how hard the NBA is without guys like Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, and Shawn Marion getting you open shots..

[Anthony15]

He will average small numbers in Atlanta, because he is their only good player and all attention would be on him

[Its_asdf]

He will average small numbers in Atlanta, because he is their only good player and all attention would be on him

Wait a sec, so you're saying that because Joe Johnson will be the go-to guy on offence, he won't get better stats? And last time I checked, Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Zaza Pachulia were pretty also "good" players too if you're counting potential as a factor.

[Blue Nugget]

I just hope he enjoys not making the playoffs.

[air gordon]

info on the picks:

Phoenix gets the Hawks' first-round pick, which is lottery-protected in 2006, has protection through the No. 3 pick in 2007 and has no protection in 2008. The other pick is a conditional first-round selection via either the Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics.

i don't think johnson has as much pressure as ANDREW says. atlanta wasn't looking for that missing link for a championship, they were looking for any borderline allstar who would accept an overpaying, longterm contract.

johnson will just receive the most criticism from the atl local media whenever the hawks lose since he's making the most $ on the team lol

now the mayhem in atlanta is better organized and it's time to develop all that talent. they don't need any more 1st round picks in the short term. get anymore more of those then you run the risk of turning into the clips/bulls of the late 90's/early 00's. the hawks have enough youngsters to develop already

from what i've read, atl should still have at least $11 million left to spend

the hawks only won 13 games last year- they should easily top that next season

[Andrew]

True, there won't be "championship pressure" on Johnson but given his motivation for leaving Phoenix, the way he handled that situation and his new contract, I think he'll invite quite a lot of criticism if he doesn't perform up to expectations.

[air gordon]

exactly what are the expectations?

individually he should be able to match most of last year's stats, sans the fg/3pt %'s, but more assists & points

if the hawks were to win at least 20 some odd games, i think the season could be called a "success"

if johnson & the hawks accomplish both, the media will be talking about the hawks bright future rather then disappointment & such... like what they were doing to a certain max player wanting to be the "man", playing on a more talented team on the west coast but missing the playoffs

[Andrew]

The expectations are that he'll live up to his contract, that his yearning to be a star will yield results. If it turns out he was basically riding the coattails of Nash, Amare and Marion and his numbers drop off when he's suddenly the first or second option, then he's not living up to the expectations. At the end of the day, he trash talked his way out of Phoenix and into superstar money and a superstar role. Therefore, he must perform at least as well as he did last year, preferably better, to back up the talk and the money.