:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45722316/usa-today-8190588.0.jpg)
One day after Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN New York reported the Pistons and Nets had been in talks about a Joe Johnson deal, only to be shot down by league sources, new rumors have appeared out of the blue. Stu Jackson, the former NBA vice president who now works for NBA.com, tweeted this out on the eve of the NBA trade deadline:
Sources confirm @pistons making pitch to @BrooklynNets for Joe Johnson for Brandon Jennings, @realtuffjuice @JonasJerebko and picks.
— Stu Jackson (@StuJackson32) February 19, 2015
The ESPN report was dismissed as "nothing" by a league source familiar with the Nets thinking. The same source reiterated the "nothing" comment Wednesday and said that there are no discussions between the two teams. Sourcing for the rumor appears to have originated in the Motor City, not Brooklyn.
The rumored proposal would be centered around Joe Johnson and the Pistons' injury-plagued point guard, Brandon Jennings. The Pistons guard has averaged 15.5 points and 6.6 assists per game, but tore his achilles back on January 25 and was deemed out for the rest of the season following a resurgence in the Detroit season. For a point guard that relies on speed, it's pretty tough to recover and play up to pre-injury expectations.
As for the other two -- they've been roughly ineffective for Detroit this season. Jonas Jerebko, a 6'10" shooter from Sweden has averaged under six points in 15.3 minutes per game. Like Jerebko, Caron Butler has averaged just 5.6 points in 21 minutes per game. He's 34 years old and hasn't seen a consistent role in over three seasons.
Other Nets sources are getting same information.
Source says Detroit has not made official offer of Jennings/Butler/Jerebko to Nets for Joe Johnson (yet).
— devin kharpertian (@uuords) February 19, 2015
Let the fun begin!
- Analysts: Nets' Joe Johnson would make sense for Detroit Pistons - Steve Schraeder - Detroit Free Press