Johnson’s plan: Score, then soar from Hawks

By Mark Passaro

Joe Johnson became a big scorer with the Atlanta Hawks. Now he’s looking to make a big score elsewhere.

Johnson made his intentions known during training camp, saying he’d play out the final year of his contract with the Hawks this season before entering a robust unrestricted free-agent market that’s expected to include LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Once those three superstars have been signed, sealed and delivered, the next class of players that includes Johnson will decide where they will play next, and for how much. The Hawks offered their shooting guard a four-year extension this past summer worth $60 million, and when he turned that down, it became obvious he thought he could make more on the open market. It’s possible James, Wade and Bosh will re-sign with their current teams, and if that happens, Johnson could be the biggest star on the move, a scenario that probably nets him what he’s looking for: a deal that averages well over $15 million per season.

He’ll be coming off a five-year, $70 million contract he secured with the Hawks in a sign-and-trade from Phoenix in the summer of 2005. And since arriving in Atlanta, the Little Rock, Ark., product has become a three-time All-Star, the team’s top scorer and captain, and two seasons ago he led the Hawks to their first playoff appearance in nine years.

Name: Joe Marcus Johnson

Birth date: June 29, 1981, Little Rock, Ark.

Position: Guard

Height: 6 feet 7 inches

Weight: 240

Road to Stardom: Johnson played two season at the University of Arkansas. He earned SEC freshman of the year honors, leading the Razorbacks in scoring and rebounding (the first freshman in school history to do so), and he was named an All-American as a sophomore. In the 2001 draft, the Boston Celtics picked Johnson 10th overall.

Career Highs: Points, 42, in March 2006; rebounds, 12 (two times); assists, 17, March 2006