The Brooklyn Nets have not been particularly good this season. The team has started the season with a 7-16 record and unless some miracle occurs, they will not see themselves making the playoffs. That has some wondering whether the team will take the opportunity to get rid of some veteran players, namely shooting guard Joe Johnson.
Johnson is in the last year of a giant deal signed while he was still in Atlanta. The veteran guard has been sorely disappointing this season, amassing career low numbers in multiple statistics. Nevertheless, Johnson has enough of a reputation where he might be seen as a worthy addition for a team in the playoff hunt.
The Nets would of course prefer trading Johnson so that they could get some assets in return. However, Johnson’s albatross of a contract (nearly $25 million) will make it extremely difficult to get the logistics done. A team trading for Johnson would have to match or come close to matching the salary they send back to the Nets, which would likely mean sending one star player or several role players. Neither of those things are likely to happen.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN, some people around the league believe that if Johnson is not traded by the deadline, the Nets would look to agree on a buy out with Johnson. That is certainly an interesting thought. The Nets do not have much to gain from letting players go; there is no point in tanking as they owe their first round pick to the Boston Celtics. However, agreeing to part ways with Johnson would open up a roster space that they could give to a promising D-League prospect and open up playing time for young players already on the roster. Whether Brooklyn would be willing to pay some amount of money for Johnson to not play with them is another story, entirely.
