Report: Nets 'always lukewarm' about trading Joe Johnson
Tap here to view theScore's NBA Offseason Tracker, which includes the latest transactions and rumors.
Free of a sizable chunk of Deron Williams' contract thanks to a buyout, the Brooklyn Nets, now beneath the luxury-tax line, have taken swingman Joe Johnson off the trading block.
The Nets were "always lukewarm" about dealing Johnson, the subject of trade rumors more or less all season, and didn't "aggressively" market him, Nets Daily reports.
The Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers are both believed to have kicked the tires on the seven-time All-Star, but the Nets always preferred moving Williams as a means of lessening their tax burden. That doesn't mean Brooklyn wouldn't have traded Johnson and the $24.9 million owed to him for 2015-16, something the 34-year-old was keenly aware of.
"Yeah, well, the rumors are true," Johnson said ahead of the February trade deadline.
The Nets preferring to keep Johnson is completely justifiable if there was other means of getting below the tax threshold. He remains a productive player and a uniquely versatile offensive piece, and the Nets are in a position where they more or less have to try to compete despite a somewhat flawed, non-championship core, since they don't have the draft picks or prospect capital to begin a proper rebuild.
Johnson should help to that end, and will be the team's go-to perimeter scorer. He averaged 14.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists last season, knocking down 35.9 percent of his threes and terrorizing smaller guards and wings on the block.