Brooklyn Nets Waive Shooting Guard Joe Johnson

The Brooklyn Nets and veteran shooting guard Joe Johnson agreed to part ways Thursday, working out a buyout to make Johnson a free agent.

The Brooklyn Nets are going nowhere this season. Even with a victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night, the Nets record still sits at a pitiful 16-42 on the season. With turnover on the coaching staff and front office, the Nets have a lot of instability this season. That made it difficult for the Nets to make any moves at the trade deadline, as Sean Marks was named the general manager just before the trade deadline.

One of the players that the Nets were trying to move was veteran shooting guard Joe Johnson. Johnson is in the last year of a massive six-year, $124 million deal that he signed with the Atlanta Hawks and is being paid $24.9 million this season. That made him a difficult player to move, as not many teams can absorb that kind of money at this point in the season.

That made Johnson a candidate to be waived, but rumors swirled that he was not going to ask the Nets for one, instead just playing out the string of the season with the Nets and hitting free agency at the end of the season. But, the Nets were able to sell Johnson on the idea of a buyout, which became official on Thursday.

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Johnson was originally brought to the Nets by Billy King, as they took on the final four years and $89.3 million left on his contract. That move was a predecessor to King’s other big trade that netted Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry from the Celtics to set the Nets up for what they thought would be plenty of playoff success. That group had only one playoff series win, as things did not go as planned and that mishap is a big reason the Nets are in the position that they are in now.

According to Marks, Johnson gave back $3 million in remaining salary to the Nets to get waived and become a free agent. Johnson will be on waivers until Saturday at 5 PM ET, but is fully expected to clear them. Because he was released prior to March 1st, Johnson will also be eligible for the postseason roster of which ever team that he chooses to sign with.

According to sources, Johnson will be a hot commodity once he is eligible to be signed. The Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder and Toronto Raptors are all expected to express interest in the 14-year veteran.

Despite having arguably the worst season of his career, averaging 11.8 points per game on 40.6 percent shooting, Johnson could be the missing piece for some of those contending teams. He would bring a veteran presence and playoff experience to wherever he goes, and a knack for the theatrics; in the last decade Johnson has the most buzzer beating shots with seven.

Johnson will now have an opportunity to show off those theatrics in games that matter in the regular season, and potentially playoff games as well. Of the seven teams rumored to be interested in his services, six are currently in a playoff spot. Only the Rockets are currently on the outside looking in, but only 1/2 a game.

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