Even though Decision 2010 went in another direction, I haven't heard much sobbing from Bulls fans. LeBron James or Dwyane Wade would have been great in theory. But what really broke the Bulls' hearts was Joe Johnson staying with Atlanta. When he officially re-signed, Johnson said the Hawks were his first choice all along. But there was a loud buzz for months about Johnson hoping to end up in Chicago this summer. The suspicion here is he'd still rather play in a large market with Derrick Rose than stay anonymous in Atlanta alongside shot-intensive guards Jamal Crawford and Mike Bibby. This seemed to be a layup for the Bulls until Atlanta surprisingly went all in with a six-year contract worth $119 million on the eve of free-agency. What's funny is Johnson ended up with the largest contract of any free agent, since James, Wade and Chris Bosh all took about $2 million less than the maximum in Miami. The contract is idiotic. If the Hawks offered to trade Johnson to the Bulls for a second-round pick tomorrow, I'd say no. He's going to make close to $24 million when he's 34 years old. If the Bulls had been able to land Johnson for a more reasonable price and use him to plug their shooting guard vacancy, they would have a great chance of blocking the Miami glory grab. As it stands, I don't know if the Bulls can get it done with a mix of players in the backcourt. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=393361
Joe Johnson and Aware Stoudemire signing the deals they did where they did were only marginally less beneficial to the bulls than than Boozer's deal. NY never gets above the 5th seed unless they steal Melo or CP and will be digging out from that one for years and Atl just became the next Washington Wizards. That team has a shot to surprise this year if the new coach is a miracle worker, but from the next year on they will decline slowly and painfully.
I think the Bulls really wanted JJ. That was long before the fiasco put on by James and his buddies. Atlanta locked him up quickly. I think Joe was even surprised by the amount they offered.
I understand the Joe Johnson signing, and the drive by the Bulls to obtain him. Joe Johnson's salary is partially based off of how good he is compared to other players in the league, but it's also a comparison to other shooting guards. There are literally less than a handful of shooting guards who are better than Johnson. There's the attraction.
