The Brooklyn Nets and Memphis Grizzlies recently tabled trade talks for Nets guard Joe Johnson and it looks like the Nets will continue to find a trade partner to jettison Johnson and his contract —- one year for $24.9 million. The Grizzlies were a prime candidate to trade because they desperately need shooters to surround their bigs and it was a big reason they were bounced from the playoffs by the eventual champions in the Golden State Warriors.
After the Nets were ousted by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs, ESPN.com reported that the Nets would be looking to unload Johnson's and Jarrett Jack's contract —- Jack is due $12.6 million over the next two seasons but only partially guaranteed in 2016-17.
Johnson even said he pretty much expects to get traded, or at the very least was a bit foreboding, after the series loss this year. "I don't think anyone is indispensable, and that includes me." "Something's going to happen," Johnson told local reporters at the time. "I don't know what. I don't see us coming back as the same team. This is my third year here. I could see if we were getting better each year, but it's kind of been the opposite. So to not even be a .500 ballclub in the East ... it's disheartening and I don't know. I think everyone in that locker room is unsure of the future here. So we'll see what happens going into the summer."
Johnson was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in 2012 to help nab Deron Williams in free agency. The Nets have openly talked about the re-signing of Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez as their main priorities. The word in league circles is that the Nets will come to verbal agreements with the two very soon in free agency.
