"Fact: The Hawks paid $120 million to keep Joe Johnson.

Fact: Johnson will miss at least a month after elbow surgery.

Fact: The Hawks won their first game without Johnson.

Question: What if the Hawks play better without Johnson than they did with him?

I don't think this will happen, mind you. I think he's an excellent player. Was he worth $120 million? No, but the Hawks were always going to have to overpay to keep him, and not keeping him would have sent an even worse message to the public. (The same public, it must be said, about which Johnson said last spring he cares not one whit.)

I think his team will miss him. But it became clear recently that the Hawks weren't adapting as well to Larry Drew's share-the-ball offense as the new coach would like. For one thing, the $120-million man had become just another guy, which I don't believe is what the Hawks had in mind when they paid him $120 million."