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Joe Johnson Coming to Utah

For the money in the deal he accepted it has to be the role he was offered. I hope that he wasn't promised a starting spot. I'm thinking maybe at this point in his career, with all the criticism he's earned and absorbed, he perhaps wants to accept a role with less pressure. He can be an important contributor, mentor, and veteran presence with our team. We're either going to love him or "meh" him. It's a short cheap deal so buyer's remorse can't be that bad. We have 20mil available if we still want to sign another FA this summer or absorb salary through trade so the opportunity cost isn't even that high.

Maybe he had good assurances of a role, as long as things hold to form. But I can't believe he would have promised a starting position. Even though his body has held up remarkably well, he's 35 in a league where wings don't often make it that far. I think more than anything it was just a fortunate coincidence of our needs/ability to pay and his career trajectory.
 
I like this deal. I was surprised when I found out about it. The skills/experience JJ brings to the team is well worth the contract. DL has done really well this summer. Jazz needed some talented veteran help and with these two signings I say job well done.

Considering the crazy deals that were being signed, I would say this deal is one of the better deals in FA.

JJ can play several roles but I would think he is going to be relied upon as our main guy off the bench. Our bench the weakest part of the team last year, is now a dangerous group. The potential bench rotation of exum, burks, jj, Lyles and ? makes me smile. All those close games Jazz were losing will be part of the past.

Now all DL has to do is clean up the end of the roster. Maybe the Jazz can trade Burke/Ingles +2nd to Clippers for a pick and salary cap relief. I'll let DL figure it out.

I can't wait for the season to start.
 
Maybe he had good assurances of a role, as long as things hold to form. But I can't believe he would have promised a starting position. Even though his body has held up remarkably well, he's 35 in a league where wings don't often make it that far. I think more than anything it was just a fortunate coincidence of our needs/ability to pay and his career trajectory.

I'm with you on this. I haven't decided if this is just fortuitous or whether DL is just this thorough with his FA pitches. He finally has something that he can sell to free agents and we have a reasonable abundance to spend on contracts. And even then $11 million in this brave new world is like what we used to pay Paul Millsap. Peanuts.

The Blazers are not going to be easily surpassed, especially if they get Gasol, which I increasingly fear. Should be another wild year in the West.

I love it. A retooled Blazers team battling the rebuilt Jazz for playoff position. The Timberwolves pawing at the 8 seed. The lakers just really sucking. Fresh blood in the west!
 
Just watched a Charlotte-Miami playoff game with a close eye on Johnson to see what his game looks like these days, since I haven't paid that much attention as he's aged in Brooklyn (after watching a regular-season game between Miami and Charlotte a day earlier when Deng still seemed to be in play). Here's a few thoughts (I'm making no pretensions about my analysis abilities -- just some amateur thoughts):

- I'd very clearly have Marvin Williams or Luol Deng over Johnson just basketball wise (with Marvin maybe having the slight edge). Just a different level of awareness, consistent impact than Johnson. That said, and for his age (and for his role/contract on team), I'm plenty satisfied with Johnson.

- Johnson mainly guarded Marvin, though toward the end of the game he guarded Courtney Lee and then Jeremy Lin for a good chunk. Miami didn't switch much this game (perhaps a function of Charlotte's PG-centric offense -- Batum was injured). But when he got switched on either a big or small, he didn't embarrass himself. Though I wouldn't call him a great defender, he should be able to perform well when switched onto most sizes.

- I thought he did decently at on-ball defense. He's not super quick, but seemed to defend with good position for the most part. Doesn't really pose much of a length-threat to shots, however. I was less impressed with off-ball defense. Marvin, especially got the best of him back-door or in other ball-watching situations.

- His activity level wasn't particularly high, compared to many other players on the floor (though that's what I remember from earlier days as well), but I thought he's generally smart in his efforts. At the end of the game (5 seconds left), with Miami down 3, Charlotte missed a 3 pointer. Rebound went long, and he looked as in as good a position as anybody to go for it from out of his position. But he didn't get any kind of a jump on the ball, and Courtney Lee rocketed in and grabbed the offensive rebound -- which was basically the game. I doubt we see the kind of effort plays from Johnson that a similarly aged Richard Jefferson was making in the Finals.

- I wouldn't depend on Johnson as a go-to scorer on the second team or in end-of game situations. He still can get some shots in isos, but I doubt that can be depended on on a regular basis. He'll be one more end-of-game option, but I don't see him leading the way in those situations.

-He's still a bit of a ball stopper, but not as bad as I worried. When he drives or is double teamed he's capable of making good passes; he has some offense initiation capabilities still.

Overall, he should fill the role we seem to have for him very competently, but I wouldn't expect him to lead the Jazz to newly found end-of-game excellence.
 
Really like the contract. Pretty good player. I'm fine with it.
Will be interesting to see how minutes go when everyone is healthy.

Sadly I think Burks barely plays now. I'm thing burks gets about 15 mpg when the team is healthy
 
I just threw my back out trying to twerk. Had to celebrate, though, as I'm the only one awake at my house.
 
I wonder what was Utah's biggest selling point for Johnson?


- Good Coach?

- Young talents/team?

- Playoff potential?

- Opportunity to start?

- Opportunity to be a scorer off the bench?

- The City?



... cos surely other teams could have also offered 2 years $22m.

His role here might be more important than in other situations. It might be exciting to be a leader with an up-and-coming team, even with a limited horizon.
 
I like the signing for all of the same reasons as people already listed. If GS wants to dump Bogut (which they supposedly want to), I'd be down for that too as a backup 5. That would be a pretty decent lil offseason for the Jazz.
 
So we are looking at a 11 man rotation of:

Hill/Exum
Hood/Burks
Hayward/Johnson/Ingles
Favors/Lyles
Gobert/Withey

I think Ingles/Withey minutes depend on matchups if Jazz go small or big. Obviously if we make it to crunch time in the regular season or playoffs that rotation will probably cutout Ingles/Withey altogether.

Mack/Neto/Pleiss currently make up our reserves (I'm assuming Burke will not be on this roster). So that leaves 1 spot open for either Bolomboy, a trade acquisition, or another FA signing.

We are def missing an energy/hustle player in that line up. Hopefully the new kid from Weber can fill that roll.
 
lol at all the other teams in the league signing the Timofy Mozgov's of the world for $16 mil/per while DL just sits back in his secret underground lair and scoops up George Hill and Joe Johnson.

Seriously Jazz fans. Look at those 2 additions and how they fill the weaknesses we felt this team had going into the offseason. Now, factor in that their 2 salaries combined for 2016 is $19 mil and compare that with some of the salaries that we saw today.

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.

Yeah. A lot of my criticisms of Lindsey...well DL just gave me the finger and told me to sit down and STFU. Well played DL. Well played. Time for me to sit down.
 
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Guys. We got Joe johnson and George Hill. The Lakers basically gave mozgov the city.



This is amazing. These players actually wanted to come here.

50+wins is now possible.
 
I like the signing for all of the same reasons as people already listed. If GS wants to dump Bogut (which they supposedly want to), I'd be down for that too as a backup 5. That would be a pretty decent lil offseason for the Jazz.

100% agreed. DL is being smart with this ammo this off season and being, dare I say, savvy with his moves with smart, short term contracts that won't impact the team's cap down the line to re-sign those player we need to. You'd think it's kind of text book, but there's nothing wrong with sticking to the basics. Fill your roster, enhance your weaknesses, and stick to your M.O. This is shaping up to be a fun year.
 
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