Nets Release Joe Johnson, Who Can Still Help A Lot Of Teams

The Brooklyn Nets are a sad, burned-out husk of a team with no clear direction. Today, they did what a bad team with a bloated payroll does and bought out seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson.

Who cares about the Nets, though? What we’re really here to talk about is where Johnson goes next. He’s 34 years old and waved goodbye to his star bona fides a long time ago, but he has a set of skills that could bring a big boost to more than a few playoff teams.

His numbers this year—11 points per game, 40 percent from the floor—are ugly, but there are some component parts in his game that still shine if you strip away the grime that came from him Iso Joe-ing like he’s not a 34-year-old on a bad team. According to Synergy Sports, Johnson is scoring 0.78 points per possession on isolation plays this year, which is very, very bad. However, he’s scoring 1.7 1.07 points per game on spot-up jumpers, which is actually pretty damn good. He’s still got a nice shot coming off screens, too, as he’s scoring 1.1 points per possession on those plays.

So, take Joe Johnson and make him the eighth man on, say, the Thunder, ask him to spend 20 minutes a game standing in the corner and waiting for open threes, and you’ve got yourself a pretty good player. Same goes if you put him in Toronto or Boston and have him run a few pin-downs here and there. He should contribute no matter where he goes, unless he decides to sign with Houston, where he’d instantly gain 25 pounds and end up out of the league in a few weeks time.

Photo via AP