Celtics Expected To Target Joe Johnson On Buyout Market
BOSTON (CBS) -- As the Cleveland Cavaliers traded player after player on Thursday's deadline day, the Boston Celtics stood pat.
Danny Ainge didn't overreact to Cleveland's array of moves and cave to Memphis' demands for a first-round pick in return for Tyreke Evans. The addition of another bench scorer like Evans would have been nice, but now Ainge has his full hoard of draft picks just in case a big name should demand a trade over the summer.
Plus, the Celtics will have a few options to add some more offense to their bench once the buyout period gets underway in the next few days. And they've already got their sights set on one player: Joe Johnson.
Johnson was sent to the Kings in Cleveland's three-team deal that shipped Jae Crowder (among others) to Utah and brought Rodney Hood and George Hill to LeBron James' side. The 36-year-old is expected to be bought out by Sacramento in the coming days, and when that happens, the Celtics will be one of the many teams looking to sign the veteran for the rest of the season.
It would be a bit of a homecoming for Johnson, who was drafted 10th overall by the Celtics way back in 2001. He's carved out a nice little career for himself over the last 17 years, averaging 16.2 points, four assists and four rebounds in his time with Boston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Miami and Utah.
Johnson only averaged 7.3 points in 32 games for the Jazz this season, shooting 42 percent from the floor and a career-worst 27 percent from three-point range. But he's a professional scorer who would be a nice addition to the Boston bench this late in the season.