NBA Rumors: Joe Johnson to Lakers, 76ers, Bucks, Pelicans Or Clippers?
Is Joe Johnson coming to the Lakers, 76ers, Pelicans or Clippers?
Perhaps. You see, Johnson is experiencing something of a career resurrection.
Johnson, 38, went unsigned to begin the 2018-19 season and opted to ink up with the BIG3 league in March of this year.
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He ultimately went on to average 21.9 points on 48.5 percent shooting in eight games for the Triplets.
For his efforts, Johnson was named the league MVP.
As a result of his strong play in the BIG3 league, multiple teams expressed interest in potentially signing Johnson.
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Marc J. Speaks of The Undefeated has reported that the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans and Denver Nuggets are all expected to have workouts with Johnson.
New Orleans Pelicans Coach @AlvinGentry and EVP of Basketball Operations David Griffin (@dg_riff) at the #BIG3Playoffs.
Is Iso Joe getting a look?! 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/P6SUQHm16Z
— BIG3 on CBS (@thebig3) August 25, 2019
The Los Angeles Lakers have not yet expressed interest in working Johnson out, but given the team’s need for guys who can create their own shot, you have to figure that Johnson will get a look eventually.
Johnson most recently made 55 combined appearances for the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets in 2017-18.
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Over the course of his time with both of those teams, he averaged 6.8 points and shot 27.6 percent from behind the arc.
Despite those totals, teams appear interested in giving Johnson another shot based on his BIG3 showings.
As noted, the Lakers do not have a ton of players who can create their own shot outside of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Kyle Kuzma.
They also lack any credible shooting threats.
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If Johnson can prove that he is able to fill one or both of those holes, he could land himself in purple and gold.
Should LA not have interest in bringing Johnson in, Philadelphia might.
The 76ers lost a good bit of depth in the Jimmy Butler trade and then promptly lost JJ Redick to the Pelicans.
They could use another offensive playmaker.
The Bucks are another interesting prospect.
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They lost Malcolm Brogdon this summer, but otherwise mostly return intact from a year where they were arguably the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Johnson could fit in nicely as a supplemental piece off the bench.
New Orleans seems like the strangest possible destination for Johnson out of all the teams that have expressed interest in working him out.
They have a very young team in place and are fairly loaded at the wing position.
It is hard to see what Johnson could possibly bring to the table that they don’t already have.
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The Clippers are also said to be interested in possibly acquiring Johnson’s services, but it is hard to see what he could bring to the table for them as well.
They have enough quality wings on the roster already, and him being such a massive defensive liability does not really mesh with the ethos of this team now.
Johnson was never a particularly great defensive player even in his prime, and now, with age and mileage being an issue, it is hard to see that problem having gotten any better.
Will Johnson land on an NBA roster at some point this season? Probably.
Is he going to be a meaningful contributor on any NBA team at this stage in his career? That remains to be seen.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
Dude is washed
He’s awful and the big3 isn’t real basketball. Any team thatsigns him is dumb as fuck.