The Nets were still picking up the scraps from Joe Johnson’s ripped-up contract when the NBA contenders had begun swooping in on him.
One day after the Nets bought out the 15-year NBA veteran, who spent the past four seasons in Brooklyn, reports emerged from the league’s best about who wanted his services. The Heat, according to Yahoo Sports’ The Vertical, were the eventual winners, as Johnson agreed to a deal which will take effect once he clears waivers Saturday afternoon.
The agreement must feel good for LeBron James’ old team, considering James himself carried the banner for Cleveland in the Johnson sweepstakes. He tossed aside all subtlety and openly campaigned for the 34-year-old small forward.
“He knows that we want him,” James told the Beacon Journal on Friday. “If he decides to come here, it’d be great. If not, then we’ll continue to move on with what we have.”
The Cavs will move on with what they have. As will Atlanta, with whom Johnson played from 2005 to 2012.
“What I can say about Joe is he always was a great teammate,” Hawks star Al Horford told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before Johnson rejected a reunion. “He’s a good guy, a good veteran player.”
That had been the consensus around the league: Johnson may not be a savior, but he can be a nice piece for a very good team to have, whether as a clutch shooter or another cog off the bench.
The Thunder reportedly eyed him as a missing piece, and they saved $8 million at the trade deadline, money they could have tossed to a proven vet like Johnson.
But the Heat won out, which was especially crucial for them in light of Chris Bosh’s recurring blood-clot scare.
Bosh has been told not to play through the clotting issue, but his status has been up in the air since the condition resurfaced two weeks ago.
Johnson presents at worst a contingency plan should Bosh not return this season, and at best another option for Dwyane Wade’s bunch.