Train
Years ago

Jaron Johnson reactivated by Wildcats

Perth Wildcats re-activate Jaron Johnson
The Perth Wildcats have re-activated the contract of American shooting guard, Jaron Johnson.
Johnson will play in tomorrow's clash with the Illawarra Hawks and the club’s intention is for him to see out the rest of the 2016/17 season in a Wildcats singlet.
After being released by Perth last week, the 24-year-old has continued to work out privately with the club’s assistant coaches.
He trained with the playing group on Wednesday.
"We’ve always said Jaron is a great guy and he’s basically remained a part of the group," said Trevor Gleeson.
“The guys love him, what has happened is a part of being a professional. We’re happy to have him back.”
2014 Perth Wildcats MVP and championship player James Ennis can relate to the turbulent 10 days Johnson has experienced.
Last year, Ennis was signed by the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA, only to be waived from their roster after making just 10 appearances.
After he spent some time in the NBA Development League and a short stint at the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis once again picked him up ahead of the current NBA season.
“Professional sport is a rollercoaster sometimes, and it’s hard,” said Ennis.
“But if you work hard and stay positive, good things happen. I’m feeling very positive and excited going into the season.
“Jaron should feel the same way about the second chance he’s been offered with the Wildcats. It’s a great organisation with a history I’m proud to be a part of.”
Ennis starred in the Grizzlies season-opening win.
The Perth Wildcats take on the Illawarra Hawks at 4.30pm tomorrow, WA time.

Topic #40159 | Report this topic


Train  
Years ago

The circus continues.....

Reply #604389 | Report this post


Nonanon  
Years ago

I'd be very interested to know what James Ennis thinks of this situation....

Reply #604390 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Ahahaha oh my god this is super suss now. The use of the 're-activated'... the media release using Ennis as a face-saver for the club. What a cock-up

Reply #604391 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Where's Ennis? Quick someone get Ennis on the line! I need to know what Ennis thinks?!?!!

Reply #604392 | Report this post


Nonanon  
Years ago

This is Nick Marvin's world and you're all just living in it!

Reply #604393 | Report this post


Ricky  
Years ago

Just called him, he said:

"Professional sport is a rollercoaster sometimes, and it's hard,"

“But if you work hard and stay positive, good things happen. I’m feeling very positive and excited going into the season."

“Jaron should feel the same way about the second chance he’s been offered with the Wildcats. It’s a great organisation with a history I’m proud to be a part of.”

Reply #604394 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

the club's intention is for him to see out the rest of the 2016/17 season in a Wildcats singlet.
This makes no sense.

Reply #604395 | Report this post


Ricky  
Years ago

Top Bloke that Ennis guy.

Reply #604396 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Welcome back jaron!

Reply #604397 | Report this post


Nonanon  
Years ago

It makes perfect sense. They used the rules in order to be able trial an import (their fourth) mid-season. That trial didn't work out as they'd hoped so they went back to Plan A.

Reply #604398 | Report this post


Ricky  
Years ago

No idea. Will be interesting tomorrow.

Reply #604399 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

Tinfoil hat removed.

Reply #604400 | Report this post


cats 4 life  
Years ago

l don't understand why they deactivated him, didn't give him enough time. takes time to get going, either he comes out swinging or just go on the plane back from Sydney.

looking forward to see the game tomorrow night, him being back will be great to see.

glad people can use his jersey.

welcome back jj and he proves why he came out in the in the beginning.

Reply #604403 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

I just read the Ennis thing how bizarre is that? What's he got to do with the price of eggs?

A bit of damage control there by Nick Marvin "Quick someone ring Ennis over in the states, we've gotta give em a bit of red meat the fans will tear us to shreds over this cock up".

"Hi James just say something mate anything I've got a blank cheque ready to pop in the mail tonight give the animals something tell em how good Johnson is"

"Yeah but I've never met him"

"They don't know that! Who cares my god man just do this favour for me I can't go out like this. I'm dying here they're trying to pin this Ingram thing on me. How was I meant to know he was crap? I mean they all look good in the D-League you know what I'm saying?"

"What do you mean by they?"

"Oh god mate come on mate James buddy blank cheque I'll even throw in one of those bloody koalas with the yellow t-shirt they look pretty swish."

"How big is the koala?"

"You do this for me I'll have a quiet word to Jack and we might be able to send ya a real live one over"

"For real?"

"For reals"

"Sweet!"

Reply #604406 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Just tried to buy a reduced $40 Johnson singlet from the cats website. get to checkout and backup to full price.
They dont mess around.....

Reply #604407 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

I think we all agreed this was likely to happen, but don't go suggesting it was all some kind of fiendish plot.
The Cats made what at the time seemed like a reasonable decision, to replace ONE of their players. Something they assumed they could handle.
Who knows, maybe they angered the Basketball Gods, but the wheels completely fell off. Lost both their PG's to injury, then suddenly their new import leaves.
Yes, it makes them look like Jackasses, but suddenly re-signing JJ looks like the sensible steadying move.
We know the guy can play, and if Prather has to run the point, suddenly having "another Prather" to play the 3 is highly desirable.
NBL Basketball is often about getting the best player available, and making the plays fit, rather than shopping for the perfect fit. Since the guy is still here and training that was obviously points in his favour.
Plus we don't really know how many players were on their "short-list"? Maybe it was only Ingram, JJ, and players similar.

As for "the club's intention is for him to see out the rest of the 2016/17 season in a Wildcats singlet" I guess at this point they just have to bite the bullet. As it is, they'll be scrubbing that egg off for months to come.

Reply #604409 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Hopefully Jaron Johnson 2.0 is a 'better fit' for the team. I would like to see him get a good crack at it, settle into the team and play with some confidence. He did show some potential in his brief stint earlier. Hopefully comes out firing with a point to prove and carves it up.

Reply #604410 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

As for Ennis, yeah its a bit weird. But he's now a legit NBA player, and dropping his name occasionally is good for PR. And at this point, they pretty much need anything they can get.

Anyway, for me JJ is still the guy who dropped that clutch 3 to send us into overtime, so I'm glad he's back. (Or never left, as the case may be.)

Reply #604411 | Report this post


snooch  
Years ago

That press release is cringeworthy.

Reply #604412 | Report this post


ROFLcopter  
Years ago

Yep, so many reasons to hate Perth.

Gleeson is a flog

Reply #604413 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

"the club's intention is for him to see out the rest of the 2016/17 season in a Wildcats singlet."

Why include that line even if it is true? It seems silly to commit to a guy they sacked a week ago. Sure go with any port in a storm but in the mean time they should be looking for someone good to replace him with.

Reply #604414 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Must still be paying Ennis for him to say that.

Reply #604416 | Report this post


leungtl  
Years ago

"James you just started in an NBA season opener and put up strong numbers while being matched up in stints against the biggest emerging NBA talent right now, Karl Anthony-Towns... what do you think about Jaron Johnson being re-activated by the Wildcats?"

- A reporter, probably

Reply #604417 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Perth continually prove why they are so hated. This is stupid stuff.

Reply #604425 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

Plus we don't really know how many players were on their "short-list"? Maybe it was only Ingram, JJ, and players similar
NBA clubs just made their final cuts a couple of days ago.

Reply #604426 | Report this post


_Strungout_  
Years ago

Perth are like the Clinton's. They win a lot although its hard to like the way they go about it.

Reply #604428 | Report this post


Maxwell Smart  
Years ago

A conspiracy theorist would think Johnson did something wrong. The club needed to punish him, but didn't want the bad press. He becomes deactivated but not released.

The club gets media hype from signing a lights out d-league shooter, who then promptly returns to the USA.

Johnson has been training with the team and is straight back into the squad.

Others would say, it was a stroke of good luck that Johnson was still hanging around and training. Typically i'd lean this way and it was just good luck, but the whole use of the word "deactivated" makes me question logic.

Interesting that they are now saying he's hear for the rest of the season. What changed in 10 days for them to now think he's the right player for the job?

Personally, i was bamboozled when they released him in the first place.

Reply #604434 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

"Perth continually prove why they are so hated. This is stupid stuff."

They stuffed up and went back to plan A - why are hating and not laughing?

Reply #604435 | Report this post


Train  
Years ago

Haters gonna hate.

Reply #604436 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

One word describes all this - Clusterf@ck.

Reply #604437 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Years ago

Baby, Nick's just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
Shake it off
Shake it off

Reply #604440 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

It's not a clusterf*ck. It's a deliberate move. Doesn't mean it will pay off but nothing was done by accident.

Reply #604451 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

Why include that line even if it is true? It seems silly to commit to a guy they sacked a week ago. Sure go with any port in a storm but in the mean time they should be looking for someone good to replace him with.
I would have thought it was rather obvious?
Re-hiring the guy you sacked a week ago makes them look like dumbasses, they will do anything to mitigate that. The immediate "smart alec" question that springs to mind is "so, are you gonna 'de-activate' JJ again in another week???" They have pre-empted that.
And barring calamities, they have no choice really. They already look like a laughing stock. Sack him again before the end of the season, and they would lose all credibility. Stories like this will do the rounds of the BBL community. NBL clubs have to work hard to build credibility when they are chasing imports every year. If you hear about an NBL club that sacked their import, re-hired him a week later, then sacked him again, you're hardly going to believe they are the most professional club in the league.

Reply #604453 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

Plus we don't really know how many players were on their "short-list"? Maybe it was only Ingram, JJ, and players similar
NBA clubs just made their final cuts a couple of days ago
True, but do we know if any of those were on the Cats short-list?
Or perhaps more to the point, how many NBA de-listees would be prepared to jump into the middle of this mess?

I agree that they should have cast the net a bit wider, looked for a higher calibre import to better fit their needs. Ideally a high-scoring combo guard, or at least an gun SG who didn't look lost bring the ball up.
But I suspect they are in damage-control mode, and have made the best of a bad situation.

Reply #604459 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Such a weird situation. I wonder if we'll ever know what went on.

Reply #604466 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

Perth continually prove why they are so hated. This is stupid stuff.
Perth Haters continually prove what a bunch of flapping scrotums they are.
Name one thing they have done that was "stupid stuff" or cause for hating?
Or is it just that you're jealous of their professionalism?
In the space of a day or so, they lost all 3 guards. Few days later they have signed two replacements and are ready to rock.
Love to see how you'd go with a busted jaw, torn groin, and mental illness.

Reply #604468 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

If Ingram ever looks like saying anything Marvin will take him out on his boat to do a spot of fishing, minus the fishing rods.

Reply #604469 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

Such a weird situation. I wonder if we'll ever know what went on.
Indeed.
I accept the Ingram situation at face value. But the ins and outs of the JJ saga will continue to befuddle.
It felt like there was something beneath his sacking, with Gleeson's comments about respecting playing for the Cats.
Then he stays around and keeps training with them, so apparently any ill-will is minimal.
Then they're happy to take him back, rather than wait and look at other options. So if there was an issue, they nolonger consider it insurmountable.

Reply #604470 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

True, but do we know if any of those were on the Cats short-list?
Before they got Ingram? None of them would have been, as they weren't available.

Or perhaps more to the point, how many NBA de-listees would be prepared to jump into the middle of this mess?
How can they know if they don't approach any of them?

Just yesterday Gleeson was talking about the club taking its time to select a good replacement for Ingram, now this has happened.

Reply #604478 | Report this post


Train  
Years ago

"the club's intention is for him to see out the rest of the 2016/17 season in a Wildcats singlet."

The clubs intention....that doesn't sound entirely concrete or confident to me.
I'd say Johnson has a few weeks to save his bacon. Cats would still be looking for a replacement and if he isn't "fitting" by the time they find someone it could be bye bye JJ again.

Reply #604489 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

"Perth continually prove why they are so hated. This is stupid stuff"

Its OK to hate Perth it really is.

However, you can see the difference between a club that will actively strive for excellence, and one that does not.

Cats dumped an OK import because they thought they needed more.

Sixers stuck with Christopherson and Ebi (separate seasons). See the difference?

Reply #604505 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Years ago

"The clubs intention....that doesn't sound entirely concrete or confident to me."

Exactly, Train. To me it's a silly add-in that at best sounds weak and at worst will result in even more egg on the face. That whole article was really clumsy.

Reply #604506 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

If you call this farce 'professionalism' you are deluded.

Reply #604512 | Report this post


Wilson Sting  
Years ago

"However, you can see the difference between a club that will actively strive for excellence, and one that does not."

Maybe, but it's also the difference between a club that has a sugar daddy and one that does not. Most clubs probably don't have a budget allowance to just sack an import and bring another one in.

Also, other clubs probably have some degree of faith in their coaching staff that they could help iron out any deficiencies with their playing group in the first instance. That's obviously not the case in Perth.

Reply #604515 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

No club other than Perth would be able to pay 2 players to 'hang around' for what ever reasons.
It's not a salary cap breach, just money that no other club has the luxury to be able to afford to do.

Reply #604516 | Report this post


Nix36  
Years ago

Gleason has the final say on recruiting and Bendat has not subsidized the team since the move to Perth Arena.

Reply #604517 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

leungtl, thought the same thing. Surely he has other things to worry about. And even if they've pre-written it for his manager to approve, it's hardly relevant.

Reply #604522 | Report this post


Nonanon  
Years ago

"Also, other clubs probably have some degree of faith in their coaching staff that they could help iron out any deficiencies with their playing group in the first instance. That's obviously not the case in Perth."

Yeah, spot on. Perth's coaching staff have clearly lost the plot over the past three seasons, to the complete detriment of the club. If they had a decent coaching staff they probably would have won three titles in that time instead of only two.

Reply #604523 | Report this post


XY  
Years ago

So, the guy who was a bad fit two weeks ago is now suddenly the right guy to finish out the season with? If I were a Cats fan I would be ... confused? Does that mean they don't want to do whatever it takes to get the right pieces to win this year?

It will be interesting to see how JJ responds to this. It would be easy to harbour some resentment that could easily mess with the chemistry of the team in the long run. These on-again-off-again relationships can be messy!

Reply #604531 | Report this post


LV  
Years ago

It's all quite weird.

But on the upside- for Perth- Johnson is a better, and more well rounded player than Ingram. This move improves their team.

Reply #604534 | Report this post


XY  
Years ago

Well actually no, it doesn't. It just returns the team back to what it was (injuries aside).

Reply #604535 | Report this post


LV  
Years ago

Cats with Johnson is better than Cats with Ingram. Ie: Bringing Johnson back improves their team.

Reply #604536 | Report this post


XY  
Years ago

LV, while you are of course right, so am I, we're just talking about different things. The Cats are no better than they were before this debacle unless the abject lesson meted out to JJ somehow makes him better than he would have been anyway.

Reply #604551 | Report this post


LV  
Years ago

We don't know for sure that there was "any lesson", there are a number of possibilities about what went on. We're all speculating.

All we know for sure right now, is that this week they have Johnson and last week they had Ingram. That makes them better (all other things being equal. ie: Putting aside the injuries).

Reply #604552 | Report this post


Bill on the ball  
Years ago


Tonight JJ will torch Illawarra.

He will justify the recall and show he is the right fit for the club.

Any person who is still willing to play with the team after they deactivated him is a person who has fortitude.

Reply #604558 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Any person who is deactivated and still gets paid is laughing all the way to the bank.

Reply #604560 | Report this post


Bill on the ball  
Years ago

It is carpe diem for JJ right now.

Go JJ.

Reply #604561 | Report this post


Nonanon  
Years ago

"Any person who is deactivated and still gets paid is laughing all the way to the bank."

I'm sure he would rather be activated and getting paid.

Reply #604562 | Report this post


fstos  
Years ago

"Any person who is still willing to play with the team after they deactivated him is a person who is short of a quid.

Fixed

Reply #604580 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

Exactly, Train. To me it's a silly add-in that at best sounds weak and at worst will result in even more egg on the face. That whole article was really clumsy.
Yeah, it's odd. If there's still the issue of him fitting in with the rest of the rotation, why are we keeping him? If that's not an issue, why did we cut him? If it crops up again and they do cut him, they look even worse.

Whereas if they'd just presented him as a temporary fill-in, they're free to replace him with a recent NBA cut, or keep him on permanently and act like he's 'proven himself' with his second chance.

Reply #604600 | Report this post


Kingpodge  
Years ago

does he have a guaranteed contract? and they're just keeping him around as an expensive backup plan?

Reply #604601 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

So he is deactivated and staying around, living on the streets because he has no income and is a nice guy? Get your hand off it nonaclue

Reply #604612 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

It's not rockets science.
When an NBL club is going to fringe players in the USA to convince them to move half way around the world, to a city they have never heard of, they strive hard to build credibility. Especially in this day of social media, treating an import poorly would be a bad move. Everyone understands getting cut, but if you maintain a reputation of looking after the player, that's a big plus. So yeah, I imagine he was still in the Big House, and still getting some kind of salary.
The Cats keep other guys around as Training Players, so why not a guy of his calibre. Beats training against the SBL guys.
And yeah, maybe they had reason to worry about Prather getting a call-up, or maybe they wanted to make sure Ingram worked out.
Plus for JJ, if he's looking for another gig, its better to stay fresh and keep training, plus I reckon a couple of other NBL teams might have been looking in his direction.

Now Yes, obviously this just reverts the team to version 1.0, but I would call it making the best of a bad situation.
We'll never know how many phone calls they made between losing Ingram and re-hiring JJ.

Reply #604614 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

People just can't get past the fact that Perth released him, then re-signed him a week later. That simple issue seems to be more than their minds can handle.

It's funny, for the past couple of years people have banged on about how we need another wing-player (supposedly, according to all the armchair admirals, that is the way the modern game is played) so the Cats went out and got another "wing player"
And yeah, it doesn't really work.

From the moment he was announced, I thought he was a strange fit. But non, no, the armchair admirals banged, he's exactly what we want, "going to be a great partner for Prather," going to be fast exciting and athletic.
So yeah, turns out that what we need is an old school SG.

Thing is, Beal is gone, JJ is what we've got, and due to an unfortunate confluence of events, it looks like we'll have to live with that.

Some Perth fans ARE far too spoilt. They want a ring every year, but don't want the team to take a risk to get it.
We took a risk on Prather and Jawai last year, and it paid off. This year, in the wake of other teams loading up, we have tried to improve.

It pays to keep in mind that this time last year, people thought Jawai was a useless fat slob, and Prather a poor imitation of Deandre Daniels.

I would love to think that there are NBA quality players just lining up to come to Perth, but for whatever reasons that doesn't appear to be the case. Even at the best of times it's a gamble.

It's rather telling that when we attempted to replace JJ, our goto guy was Ingram.
Yes I know, according to all the armchair admirals, there's a whole squad of great players, freshly cut from the NBA, just itching for a chance to get on a plane to Perth.
Perhaps the best illustration of this fallacy is Sydney.
They are clearly outspending every other team by a significant amount, and are backed by the world famous Anschutz group. Yet even they have struggled to land better than average imports.

JJ looks to be a 3, when we need a 2, and his ball handling appears suspect. But he can hit the 3, so I'm hoping that he can develop into his role. Time will tell.

Reply #604722 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Welcome 1.0

Reply #604727 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

"People just can't get past the fact that Perth released him, then re-signed him a week later."

They didn't release him. They took him off their roster and then put him back on.

Reply #604731 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Let's hope he was being paid from the salary cap.
Maybe the NBL should ask for clarification.

Reply #604737 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Why would a deactivated player be paid from the salary cap?

Reply #604739 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

People just can't get past the fact that Perth released him, then re-signed him a week later.
They didn't release him. They took him off their roster and then put him back on.
So, in other words, they released him, and then rehired him?

NBL players are not like Schrödinger's cat. They can be either on the Active Player List (alive) or Not on the list (dead), they cannot be both.
JJ was on the list,
then they took him off,
then they put him back.
Simple fact is, that it doesn't matter what he was doing during that intermission. Whether he was training, or circumnavigating the globe, he was NOT an NBL player.

Reply #604742 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

Let's hope he was being paid from the salary cap.
Maybe the NBL should ask for clarification.
Really?
Do we even know how often players get paid, or when payday is?
He might have even been paid a termination when de-listed. Who knows.
Either way, we're talking about roughly a week, not really material.

Reply #604743 | Report this post


snooch  
Years ago

So if he was just "taken off the roster" was he still being paid?

Reply #604744 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Dazz, you just basically started and finished an argument with yourself.

Reply #604745 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

lmao

Reply #604746 | Report this post


Dazz  
Years ago

So if he was just "taken off the roster" was he still being paid?
There are two different concepts in play here. Normally they would coincide, but not necessarily so.

As far as the NBL (and the outside world) is concerned, he was TERMINATED. Removed from the list.
There is no provision (apart from injury) for a player to be "just taken off the roster" (or "de-activated" or whatever else they wnat to call it.) At that point he ceased to be an NBL player.

At that point, JJ and the Cats agreed that he would remain training. We can speculate, but we don't really know any details of that agreement. Was he going to stay the whole season, or until he got another offer, or until they were sure Prather wouldn't get a call up???
Likewise we don't know what financial details were put in place. Did they agree to keep paying him at the same clip, or just provide accommodation, or a severance package???

Now, JJ and the Cats have agreed to re-hire him, but again we don't know the details. Is it at the same rate, less, or perhaps even more? Maybe they had to unwinds a previously agreed termination package?

Reply #604747 | Report this post


snooch  
Years ago

Seems legit

Reply #604748 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

How do we de-activate Dazz?

Reply #604749 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I assume this happened because Showron Glover wasnt available.

Reply #604836 | Report this post




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