With trade and buyout rumors heating up around Utah Jazz wing Joe Johnson, it looks like the veteran could be on the move around Thursday’s trade deadline.
The 2018 NBA trade deadline is upon us and the Utah Jazz continue to be in the middle of the rumors.
But this time around, recent rumors haven’t necessarily been about what the Jazz will do before or at the deadline, but what could happen following the deadline.
More specifically, I’m talking about what will happen with Utah’s veteran wing Joe Johnson.
As the New York Times‘ Marc Stein reported last week, Johnson has quietly asked the Jazz behind the scenes to move him one way or the other this season.
Veteran scorer Joe Johnson is angling behind the scenes for a trade out of Utah, according to league sources. Will be interesting to see if he becomes a buyout candidate for contenders should no deal materialize before the Feb. 8 trade buzzer
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 1, 2018
With the Jazz sitting on the outside of the playoff picture looking in — even with their impressive play as of late — Johnson is likely looking to join a contender for a chance at a deep postseason push. The desire to move on from Utah makes sense, especially with the overflowing depth at the wing position in Salt Lake City.
On Wednesday afternoon, the rumors involving Johnson continued to pick up. According to The Ringer‘s Kevin O’Connor, Johnson will indeed be bought out by Utah if it can’t work out a trade prior to the 3 p.m. (ET) deadline on Thursday.
As for the frontrunner to sign Johnson following a buyout? The Oklahoma City Thunder.
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A Thunder and Johnson agreement makes sense for numerous reasons. First of all, Oklahoma City needs to try and fill the void that was left by starting guard Andre Roberson when he recently went down with a season-ending injury. The wing position is a little thin for the Thunder, and a veteran such as Johnson could help fill in the gaps, mainly off of the bench.
Another reason, according to O’Connor, is that the Thunder have had their eye on Johnson for a while now. When the Brooklyn Nets waived Johnson in 2016 following the trade deadline, Oklahoma City tried to sign the veteran wing, but Johnson ultimately decided to sign in Miami for the rest of that season.
The Thunder move makes sense, but of course the Jazz have to reach an agreement on a buyout with Johnson first.
A little later on Wednesday night, following the buyout rumors, some trade rumors involving Johnson began to circulate.
According to The Athletic‘s Michael Scotto, the Jazz and the Denver Nuggets had “exploratory trade discussions” that would send Johnson to Denver in return for Wilson Chandler.
Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz have held exploratory trade discussions involving Wilson Chandler and Joe Johnson, league sources told The Athletic.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) February 8, 2018
But shortly after, there was another report from The Action Network‘s Matt Moore that popped up that said those talks virtually went nowhere between the Jazz and Nuggets:
It appears evident that Utah will try all it can to trade Johnson before the deadline, trying to receive some sort of piece in return for him. But if a trade isn’t made, a buyout will likely follow.
Johnson still has a lot he could offer coming off the bench for a contending team in the latter part of the regular season and in the playoffs. Johnson has appeared in 32 games this season — missing time with a wrist injury early on in the year — and he is averaging 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 21.9 minutes per game.
Although Johnson hasn’t really been a steady 3-point threat this year, shooting 27.4 percent from deep, he has been solid from the field, shooting 42 percent.
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With the recent buzz and rumors surrounding the Jazz and Johnson, whether that’s trade talk or buyout talks, it continues to seem likely that either way Johnson will be on his way out of Utah this season.