Breaking Down the Joe Johnson Trade

Credit: EPA

It had been discussed since the free agency period begun. Almost 36 hours later, it came into fruition. Last night the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks agreed to a pretty big trade. Despite the Hawks' return, they may have came out on top of it for one reason and one reason only.

The Hawks sent 100 million-dollar man Joe Johnson to Brooklyn for a huge return. The Hawks took in Johan Petro, Jordan Williams, Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow and DeShawn Stevenson. Atlanta also received a lottery-protected 2013 first round draft pick that the Brooklyn Nets acquired from the Houston Rockets.

Let's analyze this trade and break down what this trade means for both the Atlanta Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets now, and going forward.

What This Means for Brooklyn

Brooklyn is getting a very good player in Joe Johnson. That can't be disputed. Johnson in his career has averaged 17.8 PPG, 4.4 APG and roughly one steal a game, so he's your atypical shooting guard. He's shot 44.4% from the field for his career and his career high was 47% in the 2006-07 season. He's a six-time NBA All Star, and those six appearances have come in the last six seasons. So what's the problem here? The contract. It's bad, it's horrendous, and it might just be the worst contract in the history of the Association. Back in 2010, Johnson signed a max contract to stay with the Atlanta Hawks, with the deal being a 6 year, $119 million contract. Yes, Johnson is a good player, but he is not a player that is worth $119 million. Why the Brooklyn Nets took on that contract along with the contract they just gave to Gerald Wallace is beyond me. The deal is apparently contingent on Deron Williams staying, so we'll see how D-Will and JJ can play together. I think they'll play very well together but I just don't get this from a financial standpoint.

What This Means for Atlanta

Atlanta gets rid of the worst contract ever, so they definitely come out better than they were. THey lose Johnson, but the rewards they will eventually reap by getting rid of that deal will be great. They get some decent role players in this deal, and Anthony Morrow is not too bad of a basketball player either. Along with the fact that Atlanta got rid of Marvin Williams yesterday too, Danny Ferry is already better than the last GM that they had and cleared a boatload of cap room out. They have money to snag free agents, and I think that might be a better position to be in than being what the Nets may be which is where they might be after this trade. They've got Al Horford who is a very good center, and Hawks fans seem to suddenly be pretty keen on keeping Josh Smith. Jeff Teague has been a pretty decent point guard for them since he stepped in during the 2011 playoffs. I really like what Atlanta's doing, even if the result may not be there immediately. Soon enough they'll turn out to be pretty good, even if they never win a title, they come out victorious for shedding money from that egregious JJ deal.