Frankly folks, I was afraid to post anything in fear I was already dead and just experiencing another life source.
But...
One of THE most credible sources it could come from, Y! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, has tweeted -- more than once, mind you think this was one of those crazy fake Woj accounts -- that the New Jersey Nets and their sainted GM, Billy King, is talking with my new best buddy (pending) Hawks GM Danny Ferry about making a deal to bring Joe Johnson to the Nets. Seriously.
The Nets' plan would be to pair Johnson and point guard Deron Williams to create an All-Star backcourt. No deal is close, and the Hawks and Nets were both discussing deals on several fronts, sources said. Hawks officials have told teams they have multiple trade possibilities.
Now this news has brought forth some excellent feedback from the Hawks fan community. I would post a poll, but I can't get the percentages of people willing to this deal -- without hearing any of what's coming back to the Hawks -- to register over 100 percent in favor of the deal.
Woj also tweeted this nugget:
If the Nets don't do a deal for Joe Johnson, they're considering a significant offer for Memphis shooting guard O.J. Mayo, Y! sources said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2012
Now I am just going out on a limb here and saying that the only way this wouldn't get done from a Hawks angle is if.....wait, I can't think of any way this wouldn't get done from a Hawks angle.
How did this come to be? Could Danny Ferry really be allowed to mess with things? Is this what a Six Year Contract buys you?
It's not that Joe is a bad player or person or anything. It's 90 more million dollars over four years for a player who never played at a 20M/yr level and is drifting away from his peak.
It's about maximizing the prime years of Josh Smith and Al Horford by not hamstringing the organization financially to the point where they have to continue to dig through the Used Big Men Discount Rack, where they have found Josh Powell, Jason Collins, Etan Thomas, Joe Smith and Erick Dampier over the last two seasons.
It's about using your exceptions because it makes your team better.
Trading Joe Johnson this offseason makes all those possibilities come alive again.
Too good to be true? Maybe.
Maybe it's like Sekou Smith tweeted:
Hawks fans are going to wake up to a nasty hoops hangover if this Joe Johnson trade talk goes up in smoke tonight. #freeagentcraziness
— Sekou Smith (@SekouSmithNBA) July 1, 2012
There will be more lucid conversation about this, even if this deal is dead, later on. But for now, let's enjoy the hope. Let's enjoy the madness of this time of the season. Let's watch and see.
Bottom line: It's worth a shot -- and thank you, Danny.