|
Hawks play it smart in retaining All-Star guard....
|
|
|
By:
|
happier
|
|
Mood:
|
Other
|
|
Date:
|
Jul 04, 2010
|
|
Music:
|
None
|
|
|
Joe
Johnson's
acceptance
of
the
Hawks'
six-year
offer
worth
nearly
$120
million
keeps
Atlanta
in
deep-playoff
vente
en
ligne
sac
contention
while
taking
another
big
name
off
the
board.
With
his
friend
Amar'e
Stoudemire
expected
to
sign
with
the
Knicks,
the
list
of
big-money
stars
still
in
play
is
down
to
four:
LeBron
James,
Dwyane
Wade,
Chris
Bosh
and
Carlos
Boozer.So
the
pressure
builds
on
the
Heat,
Nets,
Bulls,
Knicks
and
Clippers
to
innovate
solutions
for
how
to
spend
their
max
cap
space
in
the
week
vente
en
lignesac
ahead.
If
James
follows
the
example
of
Johnson
and
chooses
to
stick
with
the
franchise
he
knows
best,
there
will
be
one
or
more
teams
left
with
unspent
money
as
the
second
tier
of
free
agents
--
headlined
sac
a
main
encuir
by
David
Lee,
Ray
Allen
and
Shaquille
O'Neal
--
is
drawn
into
consideration.
The
Hawks
made
a
preemptive
move
to
keep
Johnson
by
offering
him
close
to
$30
million
more
than
he
could
find
on
the
open
market.
The
deal
to
which
he
verbally
committed
Sunday
will
be
criticized
as
too
much
money
ghd
rettetang
for
a
player
who
isn't
viewed
among
the
top
10
in
the
league.But
it
is
a
smart
play
by
Atlanta,
which
couldn't
afford
to
lose
him.
The
presence
of
their
four-time
All-Star
and
team
leader
enables
the
Hawks
to
approach
next
season
with
confidence
ghd
planchas
of
reaching
the
second
round
of
the
playoffs
for
a
third
straight
year.
Johnson's
raise
next
season
will
amount
to
not
quite
$2
million,
so
for
the
short-term
he
won't
have
a
disastrous
impact
on
the
Hawks'
payroll
structure.
Had
ghd
glattejern
they
lost
their
29-year-old
shooting
guard,
the
Hawks
would
have
surrendered
the
momentum
they've
developed
ghd
straightener
around
him
while
improving
their
record
each
of
the
last
five
years.
Consider
this
an
example
of
a
team
spending
money
in
order
to
make
money.
ghd
hair
straightener
Apart
from
the
calf
injuries
that
cost
him
25
games
in
2006-07,
Johnson
has
been
a
durable
star
who
--
like
Ray
Allen
and
other
stars
in
their
30s
--
could
be
moved
to
a
contender
over
the
latter
half
3
in
1
jackets
of
his
contract,
if
necessary.
The
Hawks
and
Grizzlies
are
known
as
cost-conscious
franchises,
yet,
over
the
last
week,
they've
committed
cheap
north
face
more
than
$200
million
to
re-sign
Johnson
and
Rudy
Gay,
respectively.Now
the
spotlight
is
focused
on
the
four
stars
remaining
at
the
top
of
the
market.
Miami
has
famously
been
trying
to
land
three
of
them
--
Wade,
James
and
Bosh
--
but
if
the
Heat
are
unableat
the
discount
north
face
very
least
to
recruit
Bosh
or
Boozer
to
join
with
Wade,
then
the
Bulls
and
Knicks
will
be
encouraged
to
make
a
run
at
stealing
Wade
from
Miami.As
for
the
biggest
prize
of
all,
James
is
expected
to
make
his
decision
anytime
after
Monday.
THH
|
|
