Joe Johnson expected to sign with Rockets after Kings buyout, per report

Joe Johnson has been bought out by the Sacramento Kings and is expected to sign with the Houston Rockets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania. Johnson was dealt to Sacramento from the Utah Jazz in a three-team deal also involving the Cleveland Cavaliers before Thursday’s trade deadline.

Houston is expected to waive newly signed Bobby Brown to make room for the veteran scorer in Johnson. It is the second buyout candidate they’ve targeted and acquired, with Brandan Wright also expected to sign with the Rockets once he completes a buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies and clears waivers.

Johnson played 32 games with the Jazz this season, averaging 7.3 points on dreadful shooting — just 42 percent from the field and 27 percent behind the arc. Because of that, Johnson had increasingly been phased out of Utah’s rotation despite serving a crucial role last year for them off the bench.

Maybe the 36-year-old Johnson is just washed now, but it seems like that he could rebound in a Rockets system that’s much more conducive for offensive players than Utah’s. Plus, Houston doesn’t need Johnson playing a major role.

In last year’s playoffs, Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni suffered from a lack of role players that he trusted, and he ostensibly only played a seven-man rotation in the final two losses to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. (D’Antoni played a few more players in Game 6 but only after the Spurs led big.)

With Johnson and also Wright, Houston is gathering veterans that D’Antoni can trust in big game situations. The Rockets also have several injury prone players across their roster, and they’ve seen players go in and out of the lineup all year. With Johnson and Wright, there’s additional depth should that problem pop up.

Johnson might not supplant Gerald Green’s current role as a shooter off the bench, or they could trade places on a game-to-game basis depending on which player is effective. Johnson also played more power forward than small forward with Utah this season, and it’s presumable he’ll fill some small ball lineups when used, just like P.J. Tucker and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute have all season for the Rockets.

This isn’t a move that makes the Rockets much better, but it’s a safety net that could rescue them in a bad postseason situation. That’s a move worth making.