Joe Johnson was a Mr. Arkansas Basketball and he stayed in state to play his college ball at the University of Arkansas where he was the SEC Rookie of the Year. Johnson declared for the draft in 2001, where he was taken 10th Overall by the Boston Celtic 10th Overall, but he did not last the season, as he was traded to Phoenix.
The trade accelerated Johnson’s development as he saw significantly more playing time with the Suns and in all three of his full seasons in the Desert, Johnson obtained Most Improved Player of the Year votes. Johnson was a restricted free agent in 2005, and the Atlanta Hawks pulled the trigger, landing Johnson in a sign-and-trade. The ATL suited Johnson well.
With the Hawks, Johnson was the lead option and averaged over 20 Points per Game in his first five seasons (2005-06-2009-10), with All-Star appearances in the last six (2006-07-2011-12). Johnson was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2009-10. As good as Johnson was, the Hawks were never serious championship contenders, though he had impressive numbers in Atlanta with a 20.8 PPG over 508 Games. Johnson was traded to Brooklyn in 2012, and in 2014, he went to his seventh and final All-Star Game.
In 2016, Johnson was traded to Miami for their playoff run, and he signed with Utah the year later but was now a reserve player until he retired (for the first time) in 2018 after a stop with the Houston Rockets.
Johnson’s Hall of Fame clock was pushed back by three years, as he returned to the Celtics on a 10-day contract as a hardship exemption. He only appeared in one Game, scored 2 Points in 2 Minutes, but joined Dirk Nowitzki as the only players to score at the age of 20 and 40 for the same team. Considering, he only played 49 Games in total for the Celtics, it is a fascinating statistic, isn’t it?
Still, With Johnson, we have the definition of a borderline candidate. Despite the seven All-Stars, we have a player who only twice received MVP votes and was no higher than 12th. Johnson never won a championship at any level. This will be interesting.
