The Brooklyn Nets continue with their efforts to unload Joe Johnson and his giant contract—recent trade talks with the Memphis Grizzlies reportedly went nowhere, however.
Johnson, 34, is owed $24.9 million in the final year of his current deal.
The Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons have also reportedly inquired about the former All-Star guard’s availability.
Per ESPN:
The Brooklyn Nets and Memphis Grizzlies recently discussed a potential trade to send former All-Star shooting guard Joe Johnson to Memphis, according to league sources. […] The teams could not find a workable deal and have tabled discussions, but sources said that the Nets were encouraged enough in general to believe that they will ultimately find a trade taker for Johnson’s mammoth contract, which only has one season left to run but at a massive $24.9 million in 2015-16.
The Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons are among the other teams, like Memphis, to register exploratory interest in Johnson in recent months, but trades made recently by both teams — with the Hornets acquiring Nicolas Batum from Portland and the Pistons nabbing Ersan Ilyasova from Milwaukee — would appear to take them out of the Johnson mix.
After the Nets’ first-round elimination this spring, it was reported that Brooklyn would explore the trade markets for both Johnson and Jarrett Jack (due $12.6 million over the next two seasons but only partially guaranteed in 2016-17) to try to get away from luxury-tax territory, knowing that both figure to be easier to move than 30-year-old former All-Star guard Deron Williams (who is owed $21 million next season and $22.3 million in 2016-17). […] In the wake of Brooklyn’s early departure from the playoffs, Johnson all but admitted that he expected to be shopped, saying: “I don’t think anyone is indispensable, and that includes me.”
