Although LeBron James remains their lead target, the Knicks will meet with Joe Johnson in Los Angeles just hours before their sitdown with James in Ohio on Thursday. New York is hoping to meet with Amar'e Stoudemire's representatives in Los Angeles Thursday night. League sources told Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that the Hawks will be in Los Angeles at midnight Thursday to attempt to retain Johnson. The Bulls are another team expected to go hard after Johnson even though they may fall just short of the salary-cap space to offer a second maximum-salary contract. Chicago will also be in pursuit of James. One source told Isola that the Hawks intend to offer Johnson a max contract and "get the deal done." The Knicks are hoping to secure Johnson by offering him a chance to play with James, should they be able to convince the crown jewel of this summer's free-agent class to sign in New York. A source familiar with the Hawks' thinking says the team is not interested in a sign-and-trade with the Knicks, preferring to let Johnson walk to New York if he chooses not to return to Atlanta. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2010/06/28/2010-06-28_knicks_hawkeyed.html
We know the Cavs will doing what they can to keep their hometown hero, LeBron James, in Cleveland. But can the same now be said for Joe Johnson? Word out of Atlanta is that the Hawks are prepared to offer a six-year max deal to Johnson. As Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets: "Not my beat, but I keep hearing writing off Joe Johnson staying in Atlanta is [a] mistake. Atlanta will offer max, I'm told, and $30 million is $30 million." As in, signing a max deal with Atlanta will net him $30 million more than signing a max deal with any other team outright in free agency. If Johnson can get a max contract in Atlanta, that's a hard number to walk away from, and teams such as the Bulls and Knicks -- two squads in the mix for his services -- might have to look elsewhere if he re-ups with Atlanta. http://twitter.com/PDcavsinsider/status/17432885421
LOL I guess the Hawks front office forgot about his series against Orlando. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=1007