Le Basketbawl

There are a lot of names being bandied about by the “So-Called NBA Experts” who will make huge splashes in the NBA Free Agent Pool in the Summer of 2010. There will be many teams extremely disappointed when LeBron James re-signs with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Dwyane Wade unless something happens in the next few months will most likely stay with the Heat in Miami.

But even with those two big names out of the mix there is still a whole bunch of Frickin talent that will most likely at least explore the market. Two guys names that come up constantly are Chris Bosh from Toronto and Amare Stoudemire who plays for the Suns.

However there is another very talented young player out their who is still just 28 years old and seems to get better every year. And the team that currently has him on their roster would be making one of the biggest Frickin blunders if they allow him to leave at the end of this season. New York Vinnie believes this one player has been a major factor in this team’s turnaround over the last couple of years. They went from one of the dog-meat teams in the NBA to a legitimate force in the NBA Eastern Conference.

This player was critricized big time when he signed a Free Agent contract with his team a few years ago. There were a lot of media members and fans alike that siad he only took the deal for the money and he had no desire to be a winner. Well Joe Johnson has proven the critics wrong and has turned the once moribund Atlanta Hawks into a young exciting team on the way up.

Johnson has been one  of the key factors in the Hawks beating tw0 of the best teams in the NBA in less than a week; the Boston Celtics Friday night and the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. Yes Johnson has talent around him in Josh Smith, Al Horford and Mike Bibby; but Johnson is the heart and soul of that team. Now is New York Vinnie telling you he is the caliber of the “BIG FIVE” Kobe, LeBron, CP-3 D-Wade And D-Howard? No but he may be right at the top of that next level along with players like Portland’s Brandon Roy.

Johnson is an unrestricted Free Agent at the end of this season. If the Hawks want to keep on evolving they must make sure that they lock up their star for as long as possible. Unless they want to go back to a few years ago playing in empty arenas with a bunch of individuals instead of one team.