As of February 25, 2016, following a buyout agreement, the Brooklyn Nets have waived Joe Johnson from the last year of his contract. This season, Johnson was the second highest paid player in the league at $24.9 million, behind L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant. The Nets have made major moves over the last couple weeks, hiring Sean Marks as their new general manager at the trade deadline prior to making this decision with Iso-Joe.
The Nets cutting ties with Johnson was a decision that was long overdue. He’s had one of the most undeserving contracts since he was traded from the Hawks before the 2012-2013 season, and he’s been a contributing factor to their failure over the last few seasons. His scoring output has decreased each season of his contract, and before the buyout he was averaging below 14 ppg; which he hasn’t done since his second year with the Phoenix Suns. Everyone on the Nets roster should be expendable at this point, so getting rid of Johnson was a fantastic beginning to what should be a massive overhaul for this organization.
Releasing Johnson was just the start of the process that needs to take place in Brooklyn. The next move for the Nets should be to find a way of entering the upcoming 2016 NBA Draft. Whether their owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who loves spending money unnecessarily, buys a pick from a team or they make a trade, the Nets need to acquire younger players. This draft may not be loaded with superstars, but they need younger talent on their roster. Their team can use anyone that’s available, because the Nets lack depth at relatively every position. New GM Marks needs to make sure that letting go of Johnson isn’t their last move. More needs to be done to reshape this organization.
As for “Joe Cool”, if his desire is to join a roster with the interest of winning a championship, then his best option is to sign a contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC would be ecstatic to bring him aboard, seeing as their starting shooting guard is Dion Waiters and shoots under 40% from the field. The Thunder are a terrific team led by Westbrook and Kevin Durant and have potential once they hit the postseason, but they lack depth at the shooting guard position. Johnson could provide the offensive punch that they require outside of those two superstars. Although Joe Johnson isn’t scoring as much as he used to, utilizing him as a third option would work well for the team as they finish their last 25 games.
