"When Atlanta offered Joe Johnson a maximum contract worth $119 million over six seasons on Thursday, the mere fact that the Hawks were so exorbitantly generous was supposed to be the end of the surprise.

The double-shocker was that the 29-year-old guard didn't immediately accept the deal.

But after some deliberation about whether it'd be better to play for New York or Chicago, two sources close to Johnson told FanHouse at 6 p.m. Pacific Saturday that he will make his final decision in the next day and that "barring a major change in the next 24 hours it's Atlanta."

The second source said he was simply "leaning" toward the Hawks, which could give forward Amar'e Stoudemire and the Knicks a sliver of hope to ramp up their own recruiting efforts. "