Hawks lock up leading scorer Johnson

By Bud L. Ellis

He has led the Atlanta Hawks in scoring the past five years, helping to transform a 13-win franchise into a team that reached the NBA’s Elite Eight each of the past two seasons.

Now, after dipping his toe into the free-agent pool, Joe Johnson is back. The shooting guard signed a contract that will keep him in an Atlanta uniform for the next six seasons, a deal that ensures No. 2 will man the 2-spot well into the decade.

The Hawks and Johnson drew heavy fire for the way their 2009-10 season ended: a four-game flameout in the Eastern Conference semifinals to Orlando, during which Johnson criticized fans for booing the team’s lackluster effort. But Johnson backed off of those comments days later, and now both the player and the franchise look to build on last season’s 53-win effort under new head coach Larry Drew.

Johnson landed his fourth-consecutive All-Star game appearance last season, leading the Hawks in scoring at 21.3 points per game. He added 4.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 38 minutes per game in 2009-10, leading the Hawks in scoring 34 times and in assists 28 times.

Johnson shot 45.8 percent from the floor and teamed with NBA sixth-man of the year Jamal Crawford to give Atlanta a robust 1-2 scoring punch in the backcourt. Now comes the task of trying to push the Hawks even higher in 2010-11.

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Friday, July 9, 2010 at 10:52 am by bud

Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Larry Drew, National Basketball Association, Orlando Magic