This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Miami • Joe Johnson signed with the Utah Jazz during free agency in July, committing himself to the organization for two years.
If the front office had its way, however, Johnson would've been in Salt Lake City long before then.
The Jazz reached out to Johnson when he accepted a buyout from the Brooklyn Nets last February and became an in-season free agent. Johnson decided to sign with the Miami Heat, whom the Jazz played against on Saturday night.
"They were always one of the teams right there in the forefront, in terms of trying to get me," Johnson said.
While he liked the Jazz, Johnson who wanted to make the playoffs, and the Heat were in a better position to do that than the Jazz last season. The Jazz missed out on the postseason, while the Heat made the playoffs and advanced to the second round, where they lost in seven games to Toronto.
The Jazz made some changes to their roster over the summer, trading for point guard George Hill, and selling Johnson on internal growth. That convinced Johnson to sign with Utah.
"The Jazz were right on the cusp and flirting with success at the time," Johnson said. "But for me, I thought Miami was the best situation."
Johnson said there was no communication between he and the Miami organization during free agency.
"I think we all saw where the organization was headed," Johnson said. "Nobody over 30 was going to be coming back."
Hood ill with cold
For Rodney Hood, the latter part of the road trip has been dominated a head cold and congestion, one of the reasons he struggled on Friday against the Orlando Magic.
Before the Jazz faced the Heat on Saturday, Hood said he felt roughly the same. During the day, he tried to stay off his feet and spent significant time in the sauna of the team hotel to clear his head congestion.
"It is what it is," Hood said. "I just have to get through the rest of the trip, and get home and get some rest."
Odds and ends
With Hill missing his fourth consecutive game due to a sprained thumb on Saturday night, Jazz coach Quin Snyder started Dante Exum for the second straight game. … Boris Diaw missed Saturday night's game, but appears much closer to returning from a leg contusion. He was briefly listed as questionable before being ruled out before the game.
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