Rockets' Joe Johnson will play against former team for first time when moved midseason

SALT LAKE CITY – In 17 NBA seasons, Joe Johnson has collected nearly every regular-season experience life in the league can offer. He has been traded four times. He has signed free agent contracts large and small. He has negotiated buyouts to depart sinking teams and join contenders.

With six former teams on the road to Houston, when Johnson faced the Jazz on Monday, he did something he never had in his career, playing with and against a team in the same season.

Johnson had twice before changed teams during the season. As a Celtics rookie, he was traded to the Suns at the 2001-02 deadline, the move that helped establish him as a star. As a Nets veteran, he agreed to a buyout and signed with the Heat two years ago. But he did not play against the Celtics in the season they traded him. He did not play against the Nets after signing with the Heat.

By the time he played against former teams in the season after moving on in the off-seasons, they had changed greatly.

When Johnson faced the Jazz on Monday, it was less than three weeks since he played for them. Only Jae Crowder, acquired from the Cavaliers in the three-team deal that sent Johnson to Sacramento and an immediate buyout, has joined the Jazz since Johnson left them.

"It might be a little weird at first," Johnson said before heading to Salt Lake City late Sunday. "I'm with the Rockets now. We're trying to do something special. We have to try to keep this thing going.

"It is a little different. They have the same guys, the same team intact. It will be fun."

Johnson's departure from the Jazz was not unexpected. He was in the final months of a two-year contract and seeking a chance to compete for a championship. He had signed a two-year, $22 million contract as a free agent in 2016 and fit well in his first season. He had a starring turn in the first-round playoff series win against future Rockets teammates Chris Paul, Luc Mbah a Moute and the Clippers. This season, however, he struggled with a wrist injury, going out after seven games and missing the next 21 games.

The deal to the Kings was made with a buyout in mind, almost as a favor.

"Joe Johnson chose us, chose Quin, chose Rudy (Gobert), our style of play, our market," Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey told the Salt Lake City Tribune after the deadline deal went through. "He's really become a folk hero around here. In our mind, it was a successful relationship."

With the Rockets, Johnson was given no assurances of the role awaiting him other than Mike D'Antoni would give him a look. D'Antoni had even warned him that he might not play at all. He wanted him. And Johnson has said that playing for D'Antoni again, after three seasons together in Phoenix, was a major part of his decision. Neither might have expected him to have so significant a role so quickly.

"He's at the point in his career, he is trying to get with a team that he wants," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I was just 'hey, great,' just happy when I heard the news."

Johnson was immediately added to the rotation, with his role increasingly important with every injury. Eric Gordon has not played since Johnson signed, sitting out with a bruised knee before missing the past three games with an illness. With Ryan Anderson out on Monday, Johnson's versatility became valuable as he filled in as a backup power forward.

"Joe's going to be important with Eric, without Eric," D'Antoni said. "He can play so many positions. He's a solid, solid pro. He's been one of the best in the league for a long time, so we'll call on him a bunch of ways where he's going to help us."

He did that for the Jazz for a season, before struggling this season. But even in game just weeks after he was a teammate, Jazz players did not find it odd to see Johnson playing for the Rockets.

"It was weird seeing him in a Utah Jazz uniform for me, because I was so used to seeing him in Atlanta," Jazz forward Derrick Favors said. "He's a good player — still a good player at his age. Can still get buckets, can still come out and shoot the ball on isolation plays. He's a tough match-up for anybody in the NBA. 17 ... years or so."

D'Antoni said the way Johnson cares for himself, including his early-morning yoga sessions, he could play three more seasons. For now, he said he is happy where he landed – and with Monday's return to Salt Lake City.

"I enjoyed (playing for the Jazz)," Johnson said. "They have a lot of great people, from the coaching staff and players to the people that work in the arena, people who work for the Jazz. It was a fun experience."