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Good read. Talks about a lot of things, but the key passage in my opinion:

[quote]Joe Johnson was a small step behind Danny Granger this year. He was way worse, overall and per-minute, than Manu Ginobili, and Manu didn't get his act together until February. He's so far behind LeBron, Kobe (superior defense, though his offensive stats faltered) and Wade that it's laughable to think that he'll get paid as much as he'll get paid this summer.

He turns 29 in a month, so you get him in his prime for a year before the drop off. And he was only able to put up those nice stats (over 21 a game, 9.5 combined rebounds/assists) because he plays huge gobs of minutes, and has the ball in his hands constantly. And not just in an offense that ran a ton of plays for him, either. No, the Hawks just ran from him, while Joe surveyed the situation, ball in hand.

Again, this isn't on Joe. He did the best he could under those iso circumstances, and he'll make a lot of money off of it. But he's bound to disappoint in a few years, because of outsized expectations, and that shouldn't be the case. I just hope people will get wise now, before Joe Johnson goes Joe Johnson, and disappoints everyone as a result.[quote]

It goes on to say how resigning Joe Johnson at all costs is the plan, but after the observations that led to those 3 paragraphs it seems obvious to me that such a strategy is short-sighted and based on fear of drop-off of the current team without thinking of long-term best interests of the squad.

Not saying that JJ will be resigned, but Sund hinted that he thinks JJ is the guy to get behind to win us a championship. To me, that sounds very shortsighted for someone who has seen JJ in the playoffs the last 2 years. Forget how many minutes he gets during year, JJ's production is off dramatically and probably more than any other top player in the league.
At least 1/2 of us are saying he should go, but Sund is going to go the distance on this one and let JJ get an offer before he responds. Chances are he responds by matching the offer, which someone can easily give JJ a raise and not expect him to join their team. This will bury our roster with a guy who really wants to just be somewhere else, yet, he doesn't have all the power to do that. The Hawks have the leverage here, and IMO they won't just let him walk.
Saying that, I would not be surprised to see both JJ and Woody back next year. That to me, will be a slap to all Atlanta fans who know what to expect come the playoffs.

BTW, Sund holds an interview Sat night on Sportsnight Atlanta 46 with Dimino and gives us some hint as to what he might do this offseason. And he definitely tells us he's not even considering going after a #1 for seeing this as impossible to achieve. The ASG must have him on tight reins budget wise, so we might have to break this thing up before we see any significant improvement.

Hard to convince season ticket holders IMO that having Woody and JJ back next year is vital to our run for a title.

Consensus among web reports is that the Woodson issue will be resolved first. I'm 99% confident he's gone.

The one thing I'm having a hard time getting people to understand is that if you bring in a new coach that reduces JJ's role in the offense, then you also reduce his value to the team. Remember that his value prior to his time in Atlanta was $14M/season. He's proven he's at surefire #2 option since then, but he's also gotten a lot older in NBA years.

I really dread the decision to give him more than the original 4-year, $64M deal. That was a very fair deal from the Hawks' perspective, particularly when you take JJ's age (he's definitely gonna decline soon), ability (NOT a first option), and marketability in Atlanta (NONE). If they start pushing the deal into $90M+ territory or a ridiculous six-year deal, I'm seriously considering jumping ship as a fan. I hate to say it, but I am NOT interested in watching a mediocre team perpetually lose in the playoffs.

Reports are now out that Woodson is gone. There is no reason to say anything negative or definitive about Joe right now. It's in the team best interest to keep Joe happy in case we want to get a sign and trade done. Once the open bidding occurs, Sund can always switch to too expensive card. At least I hope it is just rhetoric and that aren't seriously considering to keep him at all costs.