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OK- so its coming time for the Hawks to have a crossroads. They have a player in Joe Johnson who is easily the best player on the team and who will be an UFA next offseason when a ton of very attractive FA destinations will have the ability to offer a max contract. I think its absolutely clear that SOMEONE will give Joe Johnson the max. If you don't think he is worth that then this is probably the offseason when he needs to be traded.

As of now the Hawks only have 2 players who have contracts guaranteed for the 2011 season. Josh gets 11.6 million and Horford gets 5.4 million. The Hawks have to decide whether to pick up Acie's 3 million dollar PO for 2011 this offseason. Other than that the Hawks have a completely blank slate. Of course what the Hawks do this offseason will greatly impact that. But the point is that if the Hawks decided they didn't have the core group they thought they needed they have a ton of flexibility to rebuild the team any way they like moving forward. Its not like resigning Joe is the only option and the team is hamstrung by a bunch of bad contracts.

To me thats what it comes down to- unless you would be willing to resign Joe to a max extension this offseason then you probably have to trade him now. (Whether Joe would accept a max extension is another question entirely) THe Hawks would have little leverage in a S&T situation since so many teams are projected to have max caproom available. They would get a ton more for him by making the trade now.

I'd rather trade him now while his value is at its absolute peak. Given his age and the minutes he's been playing, we should move him now while we can still get equal value for him. His struggles in the playoffs just make the decision easier. I absolutely see us losing him as a FA next year, and getting nothing in return.

No. IMO, the only players that I would give the max to next year are LeBron, Wade, and Dirk if he opts out, which is doubtful.

JJ, Bosh, and Amare, I'd offer lots of money, but not a max deal. Of the three, however, JJ would be the last to get a max deal from me.

I mean, as the supposed leader of our team, he completely disappeared this playoffs barring one-and-a-half games against Miami; ditto for last year, except for one game. Josh and Zaza were the only ones who showed up in the playoffs.

I would personally trade Joe right now for a high pick to be turned into a PG and a few solid young players, particularly a big. My ideal trade would be something like extended JJ for Biedrins, Anthony Randolph, Morrow, and the #7. I highly doubt this would happen, but you see the type of trade I would like to pull off.

My ideal trade would be something like extended JJ for Biedrins, Anthony Randolph, Morrow, and the #7.

Joe doesn't have anywhere near that kind of value.

Well, I said ideal.

I would do JJ for Biedrins, the #7, and filler straight up.

I echo the same sentiment. I feel that JJ is not worth the max, and if the Hawks can swing it...they should go ahead and try to trade JJ while his value is at its peak and get some nice player pieces back. I'd like the Hawks to try and swing a deal with eiether MEM, OKC or WASH and get in the top 5 in this year's draft. I'm really high on Stephen Curry...and I feel that he is going to be factor next year wherever he lands....hopefully here.

Joe is one of the top 5 SGs in the game. Kobe, Wade, Roy and ... who else? Whether he manages to get a max contract or not, he will be paid. Deal with it. That's what you get when you have a top player.

I Have no clue why people get down on JJ. He can't help that he is the only person on this team that can score on his own. All he needs is one other play that can't create his own shot. Someone like Bosh or V. Carter. If the hawks got anyone like that to go with JJ you all wouldn’t want to get rid of JJ. I am not saying he is Lebron or Kobe, or Wade. Hell but who is, those are the three best players in the NBA. They can’t play for every team. But he is our best player. And he would be an up grade at the 2 guard on almost every team not the Lakers or Miami, maybe Portland. That’s about it. So yes he will get a max deal. If it is not from the Hawks I can think of 25 other teams off the top of my head that would give it to him.

Joe is a max player and will get a max deal in free agency. It's not a matter if you are one of the very best, just that you are one of the best available when someone has the ability and willingness to write that big of a check. A lot of teams have been saving for next summer and Joe is realistically the 4th best target and after Lebron and Wade likely stay put then someone is going to need to make a splash and Bosh and Joe are the next 2 in line I believe.

I wonder about the workload that he's been subjected to. Mike Woodson rides him to the point he's no longer effective by the end of the season and I wonder if that has a cumulative effect on Joe. I also worry about his ability to adjust to a different system. Is he still a max player if we don't run as much iso plays with him?

Question is, what will JJ do with the Hawks vs. what we could get in a trade could do in the next few years. Contract ramifications come into play.

Biendrins and #7 is a good barometer. Would that make the team better? Next year, the next three or four years?

Biedrens and #7 in a bad draft. What'll that get you?

Assuming we'll lose Joe just because he'll want to be well-paid is a mistake. SOMEone will play for us and, if he's any good, he'll also expect to be paid.

Yeah. You've gotta do it.

You wouldn't get anything of great value in a trade for him anyway.

yeah, he is no Lebron or Wade, but he does have enough talent to get a max. not only does Joe deserve a max because of his talent, but also because of his rep around the NBA. even with a max deal, if the Hawks ever decide to trade Joe, the max deal won't pull down his trade value.

IMO, JJ gets a max contract from someone. As long as Woody is here, JJ will be here.

Can we get him for less than the max years allowed in the question?

Evil makes a great point about riding JJ to exhaustion, and I think the trend continues this year in a contract year.

Can you imagine our offense without JJ in Woody's offense?

"Can you imagine our offense without JJ in Woody's offense?" I just wish I could imagine an offence. Since Woodson's been here, I have'nt seen one.

I think the we could get a starting C and PG for JJ. Will either be as good as JJ? Probably not, will the Hawks be better as a result? Maybe.

If the Hawks make minimum moves, I see a leveling off of the team. I also think now is a better time to try to pull something off to move to the next level.

tbhawksfan wrote:"Can you imagine our offense without JJ in Woody's offense?" I just wish I could imagine an offence. Since Woodson's been here, I have'nt seen one.

I think the we could get a starting C and PG for JJ. Will either be as good as JJ? Probably not, will the Hawks be better as a result? Maybe.
If the Hawks make minimum moves, I see a leveling off of the team. I also think now is a better time to try to pull something off to move to the next level.

Which Center can we get for JJ that would be better than what we have now? I know we need to up grade at Center and Point. but do you really feel we could up grade both with only JJ ? if you do, who could we get for him. and would the up grade be enough to Compensate our inability to score now that we don’t have JJ?

Foye / #6 / Brown / Gomes for JJ

Gasol / #2 for JJ / #49

Calderon / Bargnani for JJ / Law

CHI / LA or PORT would love to have JJ and could make for a three way trade.

E.Thomas / Young / #5 / Blatche for JJ / #49

These can all be argued, but I think you can work a trade for any player. trick is to improve the team through the trade.

Should we lock JJ into his next may deal or can we go farther by making a nice trade this summer?

tbhawksfan wrote:Foye / #6 / Brown / Gomes for JJ

First who is Brown? and second why would we need Gomes, even though I like him he would not get any playing time unless you have some more moves in mind. like doing something with Marvin and or Smoove or Horford. But I still like our current line up better than What we got in this trade for JJ.

Gasol / #2 for JJ / #49

Now this one I may have to think about this one. the problem is Memphis would not.

Calderon / Bargnani for JJ / Law

no way from a Atlanta Hawks standpoint.

CHI / LA or PORT would love to have JJ and could make for a three way trade.

E.Thomas / Young / #5 / Blatche for JJ / #49

I kind of like this one.

These can all be argued, but I think you can work a trade for any player. trick is to improve the team through the trade.

Should we lock JJ into his next may deal or can we go farther by making a nice trade this summer?

I am not opposed to traded JJ, however I still think we should keep him and lock him up long term...... remember it wasn't long ago that we couldn't even get a big time F/A to come to Atlanta and JJ took a chance on us and he made us relevant. He is a top 5 player at his position and thus constitutes max pay. We need to try and build around him. We are half way there we just need a few more pieces and I feel we would be title contenders. If we do any of those trades you mention we would be taking a few steps back.

Besides if we don't keep our star player because we don't want to pay him what he is worth, why would a super star want to come to Atlanta? They wouldn't, the same reason Thabeet and Rubio don't want to play in Memphis. Because Memphis has a reputation now of not wanting to pay its star players, and operating on the cheap. Is that the Rep u want the Hawks to have?

I'm looking for a two for one, and to get a little younger than JJ. I really like our core of Horf/MW/Smoove. if you can get a good trade for JJ and add two more core (but, not as good as JJ) players, I think it would really help us in the long run.

The trade you didn't like as an example:

We get:

#6 / Foye / Gomes / Brown for JJ.

We could look to trade the rights to Chil / Speedy / Mo / #49 for Kaman or Camby or sign a FA center (Andersen / Zaza / Gortat).

Horf / Gortat / Morris
Smoove / Hansbrough / Hunter
MW / Gomes
Foye / Mo /
Curry / Law /

Add a FA back up PG and we're in business for quite a while with a much better cap situation.

Comparing JJ to some of the others in his "class" (Carter, Stackhouse, Allen), I really hope the Hawks can get him to agree to a four-year extension with a team option for that fifth year.

That fifth year is going to be a killer if it's at $20M or so. It's right around the time his play will start to fall off.

(Not to mention the fact that Joe is at least a year "older" based on his minutes played).