Joe Johnson in Buyout Talks, Cavs Pursuing

As we all hoped, Joe Johnson is in buyout talks and the Cleveland Cavaliers are already pursuing.

The Cavs have two open roster spots and many believed that Johnson was their prime target should he be bought out. There was conversation that Johnson wouldn’t want to leave any money on the table and, in fact, wanted an extension with the Nets.

However, this morning comes news that the Nets and Johnson have started buyout talks:

And quickly following that tweet was the obvious tweet that the Cavs were in pursuit:

Luke did a great job a few weeks back of covering why Johnson wasn’t having a good year and maybe wouldn’t be a great fit.

At that time, Johnson was only shooting 36% from the field and 31% from behind the arc. Since then, in 6 weeks including a long layoff for the All-Star Break, Johnson is all the way up to 41% from the field and 36% from behind the arc.

Those are the kind of numbers the Cavs would love to have. They should go up as he gets space on the floor around the Big 3 as well.

For the Cavs, Johnson would likely take most of Richard Jefferson‘s minutes and probably dip into some of Iman Shumpert‘s. Johnson has slowed down in his old age but still has the size and basketball IQ to be an okay defender in the limited minutes he would be expected to play.

He could greatly help the Cavs against the Golden State Warriors. He would allow the Cavs to play LeBron James at the 5, with Johnson as the 4, and any combination of players at the other 3 positions. Tristan Thompson could also join James and JJ in the frontcourt to form a solid defensive team.

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Johnson’s fit wouldn’t be perfect, and the Cavs have some competition. Would Joe be okay knowing his minutes would be limited? Can he get comfortable with the offense and defense enough to be effective and on the floor in important moments.

If the Cavs are able to bring in Johnson, the improvement to the roster in two weeks would be huge. Channing Frye showed last night why the Cavs brought him in to replace Anderson Varejao. Adding Johnson to Frye would give the Cavs a variety of talented lineup options for coach Tyronn Lue.

Noah will have a full breakdown of Johnson’s possible fit soon.

Do you think Joe Johnson is a good fit for the Cavs? Do you think he signs in Cleveland?