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After much speculation, the Pistons have now officially signed Joe Johnson, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo. They are reportedly waiving Michael Beasley to create a roster spot for Joe Johnson.
Detroit Pistons are waiving forward Michael Beasley, league sources tell Yahoo Sports. https://t.co/nCmo09sHo5
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) September 12, 2019
This signing has been rumored due to the connection of Johnson and former agent and current Pistons executive Arn Tellem. It also doesn’t hurt that the Pistons seemingly have a path to playing time for Iso Joe as well as a little guaranteed money on the table.
The fact that the Pistons are waiving Micheal Beasley makes that signing a confusing one. It was easy to do because of his nonguaranteed contract, but why did they sign him in the first place? Joe Johnson was available at the time of the signing, and if the team just had to wait until the Big 3 season was over, they still would have been able to get him signed before training camp. If the Pistons were swayed that much due to Johnson lighting up a bunch of old dudes in the Big 3, it kind of makes you question their scouting a bit. Maybe Johnson himself didn’t think he was interested in an NBA comeback until recently.
Johnson seems likely to be a better player than Beasley going into this season as long as he has a little something left in the tank. He will be a veteran player who has good size on the wing and can score off the bench, especially in the clutch (editor’s note: Or maybe he saved up all his clutch shooting to use against the Pistons).
He does it again! Only fitting that MVP Joe Johnson (@TheJoeJohnson7) sinks a GAME WINNER to win the #BIG3Championship pic.twitter.com/UmQhPAT2Zc
— BIG3 on CBS (@thebig3) September 1, 2019
He may also be able to help some of the Pistons young wing players like Luke Kennard and Bruce Brown become more aggressive.
Johnson is able to play the four, and might have to spend a lot of time there because he might struggle to guard wings at his age. This means that the Pistons last roster spot is going to be a competition between Johnson and Christian Wood. That is, unless they can find a way to trade a surplus guard (cough, Langston Galloway, cough).
There is no official word yet on Johnson’s contract, but I would have to guess it will be a partially guaranteed veteran’s minimum deal.