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Bucher: Lebron May Prefer Joe Johnson

by Tommy Dee on March 19th, 2010 at 9:15 am

Interesting. This is something that I heard of a few days ago, but decided not to post until now. I’m not sure I agree with the notion that Chris Bosh isn’t a “proven closer” and Johnson is. JJ didn’t seal the deal against the Knicks at the end of their last game, the team deferred to Jamal Crawford.  Bosh closed the Knicks out earlier in the year and had a last minute effort the other night against, ironically, Johnson’s Hawks when guarded by Al Horford.

JJ, as I’ve said before, is a really strong second option, and I know Mike D’Antoni is a huge fan and if James is, then it makes sense to target him first. As the dominoes fall this summer, it will be interesting to see how the Knicks play it in terms of first moves. Will they be active in the draft? How about the David Lee situation?

Obviously, the team will have to look identify it’s biggest weaknesses: getting offensive rebounds and keeping teams off their glass, and defensive-minded players.

James has also reportedly made note that Bosh would be a perfect complimentary player.

  • JeffFinance123

    This would be a perfect scenario for the Knicks in that Lebron doesn’t have to compete with Johnson as the “top guy”, D’Antoni also gets JJ, who he loves and maybe JJ signs on for less than Max so Knicks have more cap space. Knicks would then need to trade Chandler for a Big Man…in theory……

    Not a bad plan…but how are the Knicks going to get size? That would be the big question.

  • NYK5150

    Then filling out the roster is going to be mission. Two max guys, then what? A bunch of bums? It’s gonna be fun to watch…

  • J_Starks3

    What is the big deal about finding a “closer” if LBJ is coming???

    You know Lebron is getting the ball at the end of close games. That is why LBJ would prefer Bosh so he can dump the ball down low for 3 quaters then take over the fourth.

    I think I read somewhere that he was enjoying doing that with what is left of the artist formely known as THE BIG CACTUS aka DIESEL aka SUPERMAN etc. etc etc.

  • knicks613

    td, not sure about this. don’t believe jj vs. wilson c. is a major upgrade. but i have to harp on your last perceptive item. the glass. why can’t this team box out. they miss so so so many opps to do so. that is something that can be coached. who in god’s name is teaching any knick how to box out???????

  • vinrummy

    i DON’Q

  • Boots

    I have to wonder why after JHS, night-leagues, AAU, summer leagues, HS, and some college ball, these players need to be “taught” to box-out.

    At what level did all the posters here who played organized ball learn the importance and techniques of boxing-out? I’ve taught players as young as 5th graders to box-out.

    Can you teach old dogs new tricks?

  • J_Starks3

    Let’s see.

    LBJ and Sidekick = 2

    Pick-up options on Walker and Sergio = 2

    Chandler + Gallo + TD = 3

    I think JR Giddens has a team option too = 1

    That is a total of 8 which is what this coach like to play so we’re set.

  • joetheknick

    It is amazing that so many fans really believe that NBA coaches “teach” NBA players how to play?? They really believe Tom Thibodeau will teach Nate Robinson to defend. I know you can inspire people but teach them to play defense, I don’t think so. Good coaches get the best out of their players by allowing them to succeed.

  • Boots

    I’ll grant that some of these players, due to their youth or lack of college play, need teaching or coaching on some of the more sophisticated points of defensive strategies or positioning, but boxing-out?

    Close to fifty years ago, when I played 7th grade ball, I learned the boxing-out mantra, “Put your butt in their gut.” My child learned it from every coach, fifth grade on up, until it was ingrained. I don’t know of any program that doesn’t teach this basic along with others such as squaring up, etc.

    At what point should it be assumed that a player just doesn’t or refuses to get it?

  • HaS

    No Center and still no starting point guard? Not exactly set.

    In any case I think all those guys with the “options” have to be renounced in order to sign the 2 max guys in the 1st place. Therefore they will all be free agents and their “options” will be null and void. The Knicks will have to battle for their services along with every other team with cap space in the NBA.

    Correct me if I’m wrong Big, you’re the staff expert on the CBA.

    Sidebar: Ahhhh… it’s so nice to have DVJ and his Scientology in Spain. 8)

  • HaS

    “Put your butt in their gut.”

    *blank stare*

    Pause.

  • NYK5150

    The problem with modern day sports is most players make alot more than their coach. (Think about it, what other industry do you see that in? Only in sports). So naturally, players can give up on their coach and say screw it, I have a guaranteed contract, and make 10 times what the coach makes, so screw it! D’antoni makes plenty for a coach, but try teaching alot of these NBA guys “how to play” and many will laugh all the way to the bank.

  • Boots

    HaS,
    Never heard that phrase? Every coach my kid had, and every summer B-Ball camp, used it.

    Maybe it is an Eastern Long Island thing. :-)

  • SilentJay

    Lol.
    I’m pretty sure you’d have to give everyone except you’re guys with contract to have a go at your top 2 guys.
    Now, Walsh has also stated more than once of S&T option. I can only imagine that would apply to a player like Lee to get Bosh or someone else who knows.
    Sergio’s QO isn’t really that attractive. I’d rather have a go at him and offer him Bill Walker type of money.
    If, IF, JJ is James right hand we’ll have serious money to have a strong froncourt problems since it’ll have to be filled in with 2nd rounders.
    And I agree, in a heavily PG guided system, having 2 ball dominating guys are gonna go clash, specially if they’re not the PG.

  • HaS

    Joe Johnson (who has played some point guard) and LeBron (who if he were to be listed as a point guard would be the best in the NBA) would be the next Earl Monroe/Clyde Frazier or Isaiah Thomas/Joe Dumars backcourt on steroids. That would give Phil Jackson wet dreams in his triangle offense, you know how he prefers big guards (Derek Fisher is the exception).

    If you could get both these Nike guys to take slightly under the max and sign Camby, move Gallinari to the 4 that would be an awesome starting point, OR trade Gallo, Chandler and Curry for Emeka and Chris Paul and then you have the best starting 5 in the league, bar none.

    1 – Chris Paul
    2 – Joe Johnson
    3 – LeBron James
    4 – bob go knicks (in other words anyone, maybe a decent rookie?)
    5 – Emeka Okafor

    Bench would be weak unless we drafted really well, but damn.

  • HaS

    Have the Knicks EVER been that lucky though?

    I guess you could look at it like we’re due though LOL.

  • NYK5150

    Damn. That would be an awesome squad

  • SilentJay

    Lol.
    I’ve heard the phrase. Not directed by me, but my old middle school bball coach to his younger kids.
    On your earlier points about teaching “old dogs new tricks”,
    I like to see it more like “reminding them constantly” many of the things they’re taking for granted or plain ignoring, you know? Be that boxing out, defensive movements, etc.

  • joetheknick

    Boots: if defense was easily learned, you would see a lot more of it. It really does take some physical gifts and heart (grit). Apparently a lot of player don’t have one or the other.

  • HaS

    Fire Island? LOL

  • SilentJay

    LMFAO

  • HaS

    Of course It is taught, but it isn’t glamorous. We live in a SportsCenter generation and boxing out, taking a charge or rotating properly on defense and forcing a bad shot is never going to make the “Top Plays”.

    It’s a thankless and tiresome job, but your teammates and coaches (unless their last name is _’antoni) will love you for your effort and willingness to do the dirty work.

    Fortunately on the bright side, LeBron’s chasing players down for the block (originally made famous by Tayshaun Prince) and his rededication to he defensive end in the past couple years has put more of a spotlight and a positive light on that aspect of the game. I hope it continues.

  • SilentJay

    It’s this team’s course. Solar eclipse might make it happen though. I’d go for the Chandler + EC for Paul and Okafor in a second if it actually goes through. It’d be great to keep Gallo to finally give him the 4 because it’s where he needs to play if he wants space on the team.
    Not crazy on Emeka, but he’ll do for a solid 5. DW’s really gonna have to get creative in those 2nd rounders, maybe even buy 1 more to bring back 3 young big kids. We’d lack depth, so as much kids we have on the bench, the better, and the coach would have to cut his players some slack and actually expand a bit more the rotation to give them some rest so they don’t get burnt. In another case, we’d be an injury away from misery.
    This of course in the crazy scenario that both JJ and LBJ want to sign for a discount. It’d be something though.

  • ds2488

    Interesting, I would think after the horrible experiment with larry Hughes that LBJ would prefer a good big man that he could create for or just dump it into the post for.

    Anyway, caught a Celtics blog which derided Nate for apparently taunting Dantoni during Wednesday’s blowout. Very classless. Regardless of anyone’s feelings for Dantoni and whether it was right to bench Nate or not, I just have to say I am glad Nate is someone elses problem now. I always enjoyed him as a player but his potential for being just mean is very worrisome. Now he is on a team in his rightful role as 16 minutes off the bench to either shoot the lights out or pester a guard, but no more than that unless he is on fire. I just wanted to say that in a season where Dantoni has been bad and rightfully criticized for it, I loved the Nate Robinson benching and just wish he would follow it up by benching guys like Lee and Harrington also. Here’s the link to the blog post.

    http://celticshub.com/2010/03/18/nate-robinson-boorish-clown-or-righteously-angry/

  • NoVaCaInE

    HaS have you too joined the Kool Aid Brigade? LeBron and CP3 both dominate the ball. Bad combination. I would take the following line up though.

    PG – CP3 (15M)
    SG – Joe Johnson (13M)
    SF – Chandler (2M)
    PF – Bosh (13M)
    C – Camby (4M)

    6 Mill left to fill out the roster

    Trade Gallo, EC expiring and future 1st round pick for CP3.
    Sign JJ and Bosh to back loaded max deals. 1st year starting at 13 M.

  • HaS

    That is very true, HOWEVER when you as the coach have the power to control a player’s minutes AND have the reputation and power that _’antoni was given (everyone knows he’s not going anywhere despite the worst record in 2 years as coach of the Knicks) coming into this job, you are far from powerless.

    _’antoni had a guy on his roster who paid his own way (hotel and traveling expenses) just to get a shot at landing a spot on the team. You think he was going to “…laugh all the way to the bank” if he got on the floor? Toney Douglas was a defensive player of the year in college, do you think he’s going to let anyone out-hustle him on the floor? I also think Jordan Hill as a rookie would have shown ultimate effort even if he and Toney would have made the typical rookie mistakes.

    Effort can make up for a lot of mistakes (to _’antoni’s surprise, yes it is contagious and can set the tone for the team) and I think we would have had a better record against the bottom-feeder teams this year if the “coach” didn’t insist on playing the overpaid veterans in an effort to show respect for them needing to get a contract next year.

  • HaS

    The point is if the players don’t play the way you want them to play then they don’t play. Period.

    Simple.

  • HaS

    You’re right they do dominate the ball, but LeBron is so unselfish and in a run and gun offense with more possessions there just might be enough balls to go around to make everyone happy, plus winning

    And no, I’m not joining the Kool-Aid Brigade lol, I give that scenario absolutely 0% chance of happening.

    I’ll believe LeBron is signing after the ink is dry and about an hour after he passes the physical and the press conference is televised.

  • x-man

    Aaaaaah Here we go again! After point D’Antoni’s statement that he don’t need a defensive coach and he could win without a star guard using speedball, we Fans are getting very close to being a laughing stock of the NBA to think LBJ is coming here.

    Kobe is shaking in his boots and totaly endorsing LBJ to come to NY to play 7SOL. Imagine the Kobe/ LBJ commercials now with the Kobe character yelling ‘I’m on FIRE” not because of his shoes but because no one is guarding him!

  • HaS

    that should read:

    …plus winning is the cure for all ills and I doubt anyone would be complaining if they were dominating teams the way they could.

    Those 3 are some of the better or the best at guarding their positions (PG, SG and SF) and Emeka is a better than average shot blocker at C, they’d be out on the break every other possession a lot of games!

  • x-man

    O chance? I got -50% myself!

    Us getting LBJ with this coach is like having a young Secretariat and having Doughboy ride him!

    We’re starting to get the pt now with this coach like with we did Isiah where he went totally off the cliff! This coach will resume speedball next year and as reason why this team has done well in his system in addition to having his players. With Isiah we had small-big ball and with this coach it will be speedball and slowball!

  • HaS

    I think he is dead wrong for doing that. But. I understand.

    Let’s not all be self-righteous and pretend we haven’t done some immature things out of spite, especially at 25 years old.

    In any case, he’s not here anymore. So whatever.

  • NoVaCaInE

    I really like Okafor’s game as well and would not mind a trade for him with CP3. How would Walsh be able to bring in 26.5 M via trade? I’m pretty sure NO would want Chandler and Gallo along with EC’s exp. and a future 1st round pick. The salaries we would be sending back though only total 16.7 M. I don’t want to rain an anybody’s parade but LeBron is going to the Finals this year and he’s not coming. We already know Wade isn’t leaving. Bosh? Many aren’t sold on Joe Johnson and I’m one of them. The only way I’d add Joe Johnson is if it’s with CP3 or Bosh. I just don’t have a good feeling about this summer.

  • vinrummy

    Not thrilled with the idea of teaming LBJ with JJ next year (not saying I wouldn’t take it in a heartbeat, but all things being equal, I’d rather sign LeBron and Bosh than LeBron and JJ).

    Joe Johnson, as Clyde has regularly mentioned in Hawks-Knicks games, dribbles WAY too much. He might get you 21 ppg but it takes him 18 or 19 shots to do it.

    I think that ds488′s comparison to Larry Hughes is right on. I know that Hughes is not anywhere as close to as good as JJ is, but they are similar type players.

    As it is, players have a tendency to stand around and watch LeBron James as he operates. (It seems like it took 3-4 years for teammates in Cleveland to get over that habit and finally the Cavs’ offense looks pretty smooth). If LBJ came to New York, there would be the same kind of thing thing going on in Year 1.

    I feel that the ideal people to bring in alongside LBJ would be an athletic big with skills as well as a good shooter who moves well without the ball (like a younger Rip/Reggie Miller…)

  • TobyKnight

    Agree that the gap between Chandler and JJ is closing, but Chandler’s natural position is at the 3. If you got LBJ, then Chandler becomes expendable for a nice piece. Imagine this line up if you were able to trade Wilson Chandler and Curry for Tyson Chandler and Henderson.

    Douglas
    JJ
    LBJ
    Gallo
    Tyson Chandler

    I’d go to battle with that starting five

  • HaS

    Me either man, me either.

    We may all need a little Novacaine to get over the pain of this summer, if things don’t go perfectly.

  • TobyKnight

    Of course I’d love to get CP3 and Okafor for Chandler, Gallo and Curry, but would that really happen?

    Perhaps we could even squeeze out a pic from the Bobcats for taking Tyson off their books AND giving them Wilson.

  • NYK5150

    I think the guy that paid his own expenses was Marcus Landry. You make a very good point.

  • NoVaCaInE

    LOL! Well done.

  • Tissues

    No Center and still no starting point guard? Not exactly set.

    Why not give TD a chance, Lebron can make anyone better by just being on the same team. so now we are down to a center that needs to be picked up.

    Sidebar: Ahhhh… it’s so nice to have DVJ and his Scientology in Spain.

    Wrong country, can you at least be right for one time on this blog?

  • the oak

    If we get a first round pick, won’t that count against our cap space? If so, why would we want a 1st rounder after we did everything we could to get far under the cap

  • HaS

    “Why not give TD a chance, Lebron can make anyone better by just being on the same team.”

    That is very true, however I would like to see him play with a true point guard to maximize his ability to play off the ball. Toney would be a nice backup at this point, but I’m still not convinced he is a starting caliber point guard. I need to see him when the games actually count for something and when the scouting report is out on him across the league.

    “Wrong country, can you at least be right for one time on this blog?”

    Do you really think I care where DVJ is right now? He’s not here and that is wonderful. No one is calling each other names and people are debating in a civil manner. I personally think it’s much better this way.

    As far as me being right for time, let me guess, people here are only right when they’re agreeing with you and DVJ, right? Puh-leeeze. LMAO

    Also wasn’t it you that said the way to fix the NBA was for them to institute a rule that there be at least 2-3 white players on every team? Yea, you’re the one with the authority on who’s right and wrong. SMH

  • HaS

    Yea, it was you…

    Comment by Tissues
    2010-03-06 00:27:17
    Oh you hope but the NBA will still be in negative, the only two teams that are 100% making profit are the defending champs and the Knicks. Boston is in line with a couple other clubs as probables. sorry no link

    NBA will get back to its original form once there is a rule to have atleast two white people per team. Sorry Bobcats is that why people barely come to your games and MJ sits side court every game?

  • HaS

    Guess I’m right about something after all, huh?

    Have a good weekend. It’s supposed to be nice out! 8)

  • oscar f

    I think that if Pierce can play with Ray Allen then why not LBJ and JJ since LBJ is a very unselfish player that JJ would defer to. I would however prefer LBJ and Bosh infact any combo of the 3 would be ok almost. This should be a good sumer but not if Walsh is planing on make Curry part of the future. DW has to know that he is woeth more in a trade but I guess he still wants to see what he has before moving him.

  • illsun

    wasnt D’antoni the coach that put an unproven raja bell in his starting line up and play him big minutes?

    i guess he does appreciate the willingness to do dirty work.

  • HaS

    “wasnt D’antoni the coach that put an unproven raja bell in his starting line up and play him big minutes?”

    Um… yea, “unproven”?

    Raja Bell had been on 3 on NBA rosters and played 300 games and he “proved good enough to play significant minutes under one of the toughest NBA coaches to play for in Jerry Sloan (where he had similar production in relation to the amount of minutes he played) before he ever met _’antoni.

    Calling him “unproven” is a stretch.

    But, whatever makes you feel better about this “coach” hey, knock yourself out.

  • http://tharealestproductionz.blogspot.com/ DaGawD_KnowLedge

    raja bell made his name in philly for guys that don’t know

    philly vs the lakers in the finals 2001..

  • http://tharealestproductionz.blogspot.com/ DaGawD_KnowLedge

    yes it would add about 1-3 mill

  • http://tharealestproductionz.blogspot.com/ DaGawD_KnowLedge

    that article sucked
    seems like writers are stupid or scared to call someone out..

  • fredweis

    Uh, who’s Bucher’s “league source”? This speculation is beyond dribble. Both ESPN and the NYPost are getting worst by the day. Absolutely no journalistic integrity anymore.

  • akdrum

    +1-agree

    LeBron is not coming…I think the people who insist that LBJ is coming are the kids that post,and the others who know deep in their hearts that he’s not coming are the adults…uh…realists….It’s going to be weird to watch all the superstars use the Knicks as bait as they always do every summer. Maybe they won’t…The facts don’t lie.

    IMHO-DW is going to get em Young,Long,& Fast & Big-we need a scary enforcer in the middle..T THomas?

    There’s an old saying “expectation leads to anticipated resentment”-….

    we will have an interesting summer.