Brooklyn Nets Acquire Guard Joe Johnson From Atlanta Hawks!
In a very unexpected move the Brooklyn Nets have acquired All-Star guard Joe Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks for five players and a draft pick. A move that the Nets made in hopes of convincing top free agent Deron Williams to stay in Brooklyn and re-sign with the team.
While it’s not superstar center Dwight Howard like the Nets had originally been trying to get, Johnson is still a good solid player that helps give the team a good shot at not only re-signing Williams, but building a strong core around him that could be strong contender next season and years to come in a still pretty weak Eastern Conference.
As by trading for Johnson the Nets also with the pending re-siging of Deron Williams have as strong a starting core as not only anybody in the Eastern Conference, but the NBA with a pending lineup of Brook Lopez at center, Williams at the point, Johnson at shooting guard and Gerald Wallace at small forward, along with whoever they pencil in at power forward for next season. That’s a team that’s possibly among the top four even three teams in the East right behind both of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals participants Miami and Boston. Than you have Chicago who will obviously take a hit without Rose and could put the Nets in that three or four range depending how well the Bulls play his absence. After that we all know the last half of the East is still pretty weak and up for grabs like it usually has been the past few years.
The best part about the deal though is that the Nets didn’t have to part with any integral pieces of their club as they are said to have only included the expiring contracts of Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro and DeShawn Stevenson, along with a draft pick the team received from Houston in a prior deal. Where as most trade scenarios including Howard would have had to include promising guard MarShon Brooks, whom the Nets want to keep as part of the team they are building.
They also got to love this move to because it should more then likely help them seal the re-signing of Williams, who is this year’s top free agent and is expected to decide between re-upping with the Nets or going to his hometown Dallas Mavericks over the next few days and before the 4th of July holiday.
Some info from The Associated Press was used in this article.
