Why the LA Clippers should consider signing Joe Johnson

Joe Johnson is 38 years old and had a disappointing end to his NBA career, but after a resurgence in the BIG3, the LA Clippers should consider adding him.

The LA Clippers have already had an incredibly successful offseason. Between landing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, re-signing key players like Patrick Beverley and JaMychal Green and adding Tyronn Lue to the coaching staff, it’s hard to imagine this summer going much better for LA’s “little brother” team.

There is one more signing that could help the Clippers out in more ways than one, though, and that would be signing Joe Johnson, a seven-time All-Star and 2019 BIG3 MVP. According to ESPN’s Marc Spears, the Clippers are interested in working out the 38-year-old swingman, joining a small group of teams that also includes the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets.

Johnson, a 17-year NBA veteran, is about to finish up his debut season in the BIG3. Through eight regular season games, he led the league in scoring with 21.9 points per game while shooting 39.0 percent from three-point range and 50.0 percent from the BIG3-exclusive four-point range, which are spots 30 feet out from the basket.

Although the competition surrounding him isn’t too stiff, Johnson stood out from the bunch. Obviously NBA teams thought so too, as a handful are interested in seeing how he can handle a work out one year removed from the league.

For the Clippers, taking a look at Johnson makes plenty of sense. For starters, he’s a natural scorer from all ranges. He owns career shooting splits of .441/.371/.802, and has maintained numbers relatively close to that since the 2015-2016 NBA season.

That being said, his most recent NBA season, which he spent with the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, was something of a disappointment. Johnson averaged a mere 6.8 points between the two clubs in just under 22 minutes of action per game, and he was worse during the second half of the season. He also shot a career-low 27.6 percent from three-point range that year, as well as a career-low field goal percentage that hovered right around 40.0 percent. That’s not exactly inspiring work.

Aside from the numbers, Johnson makes sense for a mentor type of role. With his best days behind him, he wouldn’t be asked to carry much of the load and would only be required to score the occasional bucket every now and then. But given the fact that he’s gone to the postseason in 13 of the 17 seasons he spent in the NBA, he could certainly help some of LA’s younger players better prepare for the road ahead.

Ultimately, it will depend on what kind of role Johnson is seeking for his potential NBA return. Assuming the only work outs he has scheduled are with Philly, Milwaukee, Denver and LA, it seems clear that he prefers to join a contender for what could be his final season in the league. If earning a ring is his top priority, he can’t expect to have too large of a role.

As far as where Johnson would fit into the depth chart, it depends on what kind of role the LA Clippers would ask him to play. Johnson played both the shooting guard and small forward positions during his time in the league, though he did play some power forward more recently for the Miami Heat, Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets.

Given his ability to score from multiple positions, the Clippers would have plenty of options for where they should place Johnson. Regardless, he wouldn’t get much playing time, and may only get the chance to suit up on nights when Leonard or George need to load manage.

Johnson’s Triplets will take on Stephen Jackson’s Killer 3’s in the BIG3 title game this coming Sunday, so we likely won’t hear anything about his work out with LA until later next week, if anything at all. For LA Clippers fans, though, Sunday’s game will give them the chance to watch an NBA great that could be coming to Los Angeles for another run.