Joe Johnson Re-Signs With Hawks

I can't believe it but the Hawks offered Joe Johnson a 6 year, 119 million dollar deal and he accepted it. Make no mistake about it. This was purely a desperation move from the Hawks and it will go down in history as one of the worst contracts ever. They knew they were going to lose Joe Johnson and be terrible next season so they screwed up their future for minimum short term success.

The Hawks knew that if they lost Joe Johnson they would go nowhere next season, but what they didn't know is this. Even with Joe Johnson they're going nowhere next season. The Magic, Bulls, Heat, and even possibly the Nets will be better next season. If there's no realistic hope at the championship then I don't understand why anyone would commit so much money for so money years.

My only thought is that the Hawks are trying to work out a sign and trade. Hopefully they understand that Joe Johnson's career is at the very best at its peak if not already on the way down. I just can't imagine that the Hawks' brass really thinks that Johnson has 6 quality years left in him.

If this was just a regular signing with no intention on trading him then honestly the Hawks' front office should be psychiatrically evaluated.

The Ben Gordon Syndrome

After turning down a 4 year, 60 million dollar offer Hawks SG Joe Johnson plans to test the open market in summer 2010. This was a very poor decision considering the economy and all of the free agent competition that he will face.

Next summer has been hyped to be the most important free agent season in recent history. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, David Lee, Ray Allen, and now Joe Johnson will all be on the market. The problem is, the NBA is expected to lower the salary cap once again to somewhere around 53.4 million. Taking into consideration that Wade, LeBron, and Bosh will all get astronomically expensive contracts there will not be much money left out there for everyone else. Ray Allen will probably get a small one year deal, and Boozer will most likely get something like a 4 year, 50 million dollar deal packed with incentives.

So what does this mean for Johnson? It means that he made a mistake. The same exact mistake that Ben Gordon made, no matter how well Johnson plays this year he's still not going to see more than the 60 million which he has already turned down. This is strictly because the money is just not there, he will be forced to accept a deal that he is probably too good for. If any team gives him more than 55 million I'll be stunned. This is called the Ben Gordon syndrome. Like Gordon, Johnson thinks he's better than he is and thinks he should be payed like a superstar.

There are plenty of teams that could use a Joe Johnson. The only problem is that they are all already flirting with the luxury tax which is an absolute killer. Under the luxury tax, for every dollar a team is over, they must pay a dollar to the league. This doesn't sound like much but when you're talking about the 10-15 million dollar range the train of thought of an owner changes drastically.

Iverson to the Bobcats?

AI's career has turned 180 degrees since 2006. While playing in Philadelphia, Iverson was arguably the best scorer in the league and was always in the MVP conversation. Today Iverson is as close to being overseas as anyone could have ever predicted. 

The Charlotte Bobcats have expressed interest in adding the aging veteran, and reports from the AP suggest that a deal is imminent. Adding Iverson to the lowly Bobcats is a very interesting idea by Michael Jordan (Bobcats GM) . With Iverson comes: ticket sales, national TV time, merchandise sales, and a possible representation in the All-Star Game. Unfortunately Iverson also carries with him the bad boy hype which he has lived up to for his entire 15 year career. This is the same guy that once infamously said, " We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice...How in the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?" I've heard that press conference over and over again and to this day I still wonder what was going through Iverson's head as he said that. Maybe it was just his poor choice of words, but Iverson buried himself with that statement. In going to Charlotte, AI would be reunited with his 76ers coach, Larry Brown. Brown is the same coach that Iverson clashed with when making his mind numbing, "Practice," speech.

After all is said and done, Iverson will end up in Charlotte and will probably have a decent season. However the Bobcats still won't be making an appearance in the 2010 playoffs because they still aren't good enough to match up with the Hawks, Bulls, Pistons, Heat, or Raptors. 

Hawks sign Veteran Joe Smith to one year deal

The 14 year vet, Joe Smith will offer the upstart Atlanta Hawks consistent mid-range shooting and playoff experience. Last season Smith played very limited minutes on the Eastern Conference runner-up Cleveland Cavaliers.