Iso Joe May Have Found His New NBA Home Before Carmelo Anthony Even Got A Workout
You may remember a few weeks ago we learned that Joe Johnson, fresh off his Big 3 MVP and title winning shot, was looking to make history by parlaying that performance into an actual NBA job. The last time we saw Joe Johnson in the NBA with HOU he looked pretty much cooked, didn’t play last season and then went to the Big 3 to rebuild his image and show that he was still in shape and could help an NBA roster. Then it came out that he had been offered official workouts with the Sixers, Clippers, Bucks, Nuggets, Pelicans and Pistons. That’s some legit interest for a guy who just a year prior the NBA decided was done.
Well now, according to people who know things, his workout with the Pistons yesterday went great and they are the leaders in the clubhouse to bring Iso Joe in. Now here’s the problem with that, they at the moment don’t exactly have a spot for Joe Johnson. That means someone is going to have to get cut in order to make this a possibility. Then you have to look at their SG/SF spots, and frankly they already have a good amount of players at both those spots. At SG they have Bruce Brown/Luke Kennard/Langston Galloway/Derrick Rose/Khyri Thomas and at SF a group of Tony Snell/Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk/Seko Doumbouya/Markeiff Morris. One of those guys, Seko, is a lottery pick for them. Now obviously this roster isn’t exactly the 73 win Warriors or anything, and if Joe Johnson proves to be as good in the NBA as he was in the Big 3, well that certainly helps Detroit.
To me, it’s worth the risk for the Pistons. A team that fought it’s way to the 8th seed last year at 41-41, the East is about as wide open as it’s ever been, especially in that 5-8 seed range. This was a group that finished just 1 game out of the 6 seed last year and who knows, you bring in a proven veteran like Iso Joe who could potentially help you in a playoff series, why not give him a shot? It certainly can’t hurt.
But the real story is the fact that Joe Johnson is on the verge of working his way back into the league well before Melo even gets an invite for a workout. That’s not an accident. It’s why I think if Melo doesn’t make a roster at any point this season, or hell even if he jumps on a team in like February, if he wants to continue to play in the NBA, he needs to play in the Big 3. We’re seeing right before our eyes what a positive experience in the Big 3 can do for these NBA vets that aren’t ready to officially hang it up yet. If Melo has an MVP type season like Joe Johnson just had, shows his attitude IS truly different, he’ll get NBA looks. Instead, he’s spent all offseason telling anyone that will listen that nothing was his fault, he’s a scapegoat and that he’s being blackballed. That’s not exactly making GM’s jump at the chance to bring him in.
It is a pretty cool story though if someone is actually able to make the jump from the Big 3 back to the NBA. That’s going to A) make the league a billion times more credible and B) Get more awesome NBA vets to hop on board and agree to be a part of it which is a win for everyone. So I’m rooting for Iso Joe, and if I was a Pistons fan I’d be watching these highlights on repeat all day
