The Utah Jazz are unlikely to return to the postseason in 2018 (currently 3.5 games out). Their depth on the wing, including the emergence of Donovan Mitchell, has lead to fewer minutes and opportunity for Joe Johnson.
Now he apparently wants out.
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
Johnson is in the final year of his contract, which is worth $10.5 million and has still shown, in the past couple years, that he can be a productive and valuable NBA player, even at the age of 36. Although he has struggled a bit this season, only averaging 7.3 points and shooting a paltry 26.7% from behind the arc.
The Jazz will likely survey the market to see what value they could potentially receive in return, but if nobody offers anything for Johnson, it feels like he could be bought out after the deadline.
Pretty crazy to think he is already in his 17th NBA season. He will always carry more of a negative connotation than he deserves because of the huge contracts he received throughout his career. In his prime he was an All-Star and solid go-to scoring option, but never a superstar.
