Should Cleveland Cavaliers Target Joe Johnson?

In what has become pretty commonplace in the NBA over the last couple of years, Joe Johnson’s name is once again involved in a buyout rumor.

The Brooklyn Nets have nothing to play for this season, as their first round pick in the 2016 draft belongs to the Boston Celtics and the Nets have no chance of making the playoffs. Brooklyn may as well look towards the future and that future will not include Johnson, as the 34-year-old has struggled through one of his most ineffective seasons of his career.

Matt Moore of CBS Sports has the details on Johnson’s potential buyout:

"If Joe Johnson doesn’t get moved at the deadline, he’s seen as a prime candidate for a buyout. Johnson, able to take whatever deal he’d want as the Nets would have paid him over $160 million even if Johnson takes a $13 million paycut to play elsewhere this season, could have his choice of contenders. He’s a smart veteran who can create offense and doesn’t create problems for teammates. The Spurs, Cavaliers, and Thunder are all teams that would benefit from having Johnson around, even if it’s in a limited role. Since he was good in 2010, you can bet Doc Rivers will have interest as well."

It would be very tough for any team to gather enough salary to actually trade fo Johnson.

So, as GM David Griffin and the Cleveland Cavaliers are always looking for creative ways to improve their roster thanks to their salary cap situation, should they chase Johnson?

Well, let’s first point out that the Cavs were interested in Johnson during the off-season, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported, “The Cleveland Cavaliers are considering trading for Brooklyn Nets star Joe Johnson with their Brendan Haywood contract chip, sources told ESPN.com.”

Now, lets take care of some logistics. The Cavs would need to cut or trade someone from the roster, as they just made Jared Cunningham’s spot secure for the reminder of the season if they wish to target Johnson. That leaves the injured Joe Harris as the most vulnerable of cuts. Harris has struggled to find the court in his first two seasons (

Harris has struggled to find the court in his first two seasons (which I detailed here) and is now out for the year with a foot injury. Cleveland could attempt to cut Harris and then sign Johnson for a minimum contract. That would basically double the luxury tax paid out for that roster spot.

The best way to acquire Johnson would be for Brooklyn to buy out his contract and then for Cleveland to pay him cheap dollars but is it even worth it, as Johnson is having a career-worse season?

Johnson is averaging 10.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game this season in 34.7 minutes per game, which is nothing spectacular. Although, where Johnson is really struggling this season is shooting the basketball, which is supposed to be one of his strengths as a scorer.

If Johnson was to come to Cleveland, they would need him to be an effective 3-and-D player but he hasn’t done either of those things well this season.

Johnson is shooting 36.2% from the field this season, the lowest percentage of his career and lowest since the 2002-03 season. From beyond the three-point arc, things aren’t much better, as Johnson is bricking attempts at a 31.0% clip, which is the 5^th lowest percentage of his career. Johnson’s advanced shooting numbers aren’t any better. His true shooting percentage is 45.1% and his effective field goal percentage is even worse, at 41.8%.

If he were to come to the Cavs, Johnson would be taking most of his shots in catch and shoot situations, much like J.R. Smith, Matthew Dellavedova, Richard Jefferson, James Jones and Iman Shumpert do. With LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love controlling most of the defense’s attention, it opens up clean looks on the perimeter for Cleveland’s shooters. Johnson though, has been a horrendous catch and shoot shooter this season, as he is hitting just 32.8% of his catch and shoot attempts. That number dips to 31.4% if you’re just counting Johnson’s three-point attempts, which is where most of his attempts would come from.

Okay, so Johnson isn’t shooting well whatsoever this season but how about his defense?

Oh.

Johnson’s defense has probably been worse than his shooting this season, as opponents are shooting 45.2% when Johnson is the primary defender, which is a 0.6% increase on their season average. Ok, that isn’t all that bad. Although, when opponents are shooting from less than 6ft with Johnson as the primary defender, that number skyrockets to 76.3% (!), a 17.9% increase on their season average. When shooting from less then 10ft against Johnson, opponents are shooting 13.6% better than their season average. When Johnson is on the court, the Nets have a defensive rating of 107.2, which would rank 29^th in the league and when he comes off, the Nets have a defensive rating of 98.5, which would rank 4^th in the league.

On a positive note, Johnson would provide the Cavaliers with another veteran voice in the locker-room but that is about it and that alone doesn’t warrant Cleveland going through all the trouble to open up a roster spot for the 14-year veteran.

Plus, the Cavs have a stacked rotation as it is, as the likes of Mo Williams and Jefferson are having their court time slashed, so Johnson would struggle to even get on the court in Cleveland.

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Some would point to Johnson giving the Cavs a chance to match-up with the Golden State Warriors small ball lineups of death. Johnson could play any number of positions next to a combination of small ball lineups. At this point, Jefferson might be a better option instead.

Could getting out of Brooklyn have a big enough impact on his shooting and defending?

Johnson needs to get out of Brooklyn in a hope to rejuvenate his career but he isn’t a good fit for the Cavs, as he is shooting very poorly and defending horribly this season, the two things the Cavaliers would need him to provide.

Would you want Joe Johnson on the Cavs if he is bought out?