The Nets are 6-9, better than expected if you like winning, worse than expected if you want more and higher picks.
It seems every day there’s a rumor about this or that Brooklyn Nets player being sent elsewhere by the February 6 NBA trade deadline. No one is exempt, apparently. On Tuesday, there was report that maybe even Cam Thomas could be dealt despite his production and youth.
There was also yet another mention of how the Lakers could have interest in Cam Johnson. Rui Hachimura anyone? And Dorian Finney-Smith has been on the proverbial block virtually since he arrived from Dallas in the Kyrie Irving trade. Things aren’t much different with Dennis Schroder. If Bojan Bogdanovic was healthy, he’d join the parade as well.
Indeed, CamJ and DFS are playing perhaps the best basketball of their careers…
With the Nets preparing for a fire sale, Cam Johnson is a player many contending teams are eyeing.
Johnson is averaging a career-high 18.1 points per game while shooting 39.3% on threes.
Johnson will make $65.5 million over the next three seasons. pic.twitter.com/NuwFJkFxZs
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) November 20, 2024
Dorian Finney-Smith through 13 games:
11.2 PPG (career-high)
47.3% FG (career-high)
42.5% from three (career-high)
5.6 three-point attempts per game (career-high)He’s come on big-time as of late.
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) November 20, 2024
As more than one Nets fan has asserted, Johnson is having a better season than his erstwhile “Twin,” Mikal Bridges who the Nets sent to the Knicks for a boatload of picks and other assets.
So it looks like all this trade talk hasn’t made much of a difference in the vets play. Johnson explained why Tuesday following his 34-point, six 3-pointer night at Barclays Center vs. the Hornets.
“All three of us have been traded before. It’s not something that we’re worried about,” he told the media. “There’s a lot of speculation about a lot of things, all of our whole careers, my whole career, speculation about this, speculation about that. You hear a lot of outside noise. There’s no sense in letting it bother you. There’s no sense in letting it get to you. Let the future be the future. Control what you can control now.
“The other thing is, we enjoy our group, playing together. I think we are a group that gets along well with each other, and that’s important. So as long as we’re together, we’re gonna fight for wins, and we’re gonna enjoy representing Brooklyn. And whatever the future holds, it holds.”
Indeed, Johnson has been traded from Phoenix to Brooklyn … after being traded moments after he was selected in the 2019 NBA Draft. DFS has been traded once. Schroder four times. Same with Bojan Bogdanovic.
All of them will also concede they may not be the most talented group in the NBA. Nor do they have much job security beyond the unofficial beginning of trade season next month. But they enjoy each other and their head coach. The respect is mutual.
“Just trust. I trust them. Their teammates trust them,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said of the veteran trio. “They do it every day. They put the work in. You see it here. Some days, the shots are not going to go in, and I still don’t care if they don’t go in. We’re still gonna trust them, and that’s what they’re building here.”
Johnson in particular also haa the respect of his younger teammates. In addition to his numbers, he’s shown leadership.
“Honestly, he’s just been hooping,” Trendon Watford said after he and CJ played key roles in the Nets win over Charlotte. “I’m not surprised by it. Cam’s a great player, so I’m not surprised by it at all. Last year was last year. He obviously heard all the noise and took it with a grain of salt and came back. And now he’s doing what we know CJ can do.”
Of course, the rebuild is the rebuild and Johnson is a favorite of fans in other cities who think he’d be an ideal fit. That’s particularly true in L.A. where Johnson has gotten much love from Laker fans. Word was that Sean Marks wanted two firsts for the 6’8” sniper which some scoffed at after an injury-filled season that saw his scoring average and value drop. It now appears that Marks’ patience will pay off. He reportedly wanted a similar package for Finney-Smith. Will that work out as well?
Johnson, though, is different from Finney-Smith, Schroder or Bogdanovic. They are all basically expiring … DFS has a player option next June. They are all 30+ with Bogdanovic turning 36 at season’s end. Johnson is 28. He is under contract for another two years after this and in each year of his deal the percentage of the salary cap he takes up drops, going from 18.8% of the cap last season to 13.9% in 2026-27. So in effect, his cost to the Nets drops. (There are other issues with his contract, like some unlikely bonuses capologists like Bobby Marks think could add a degree of difficulty to any movement.)
Would Brooklyn think of hanging on to him? It seems unlikely. He is at the height of his game and the most valuable of the vets. Moreover, there is no indication the Nets are changing course. None. Sean Marks isn’t spending all that time on the New Jersey Turnpike commuting back and forth to Rutgers to watch Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper because he enjoys the view. Johnson himself has said he appreciates how the front office is keeping him apprised of the situation.
So just as CJ and his teammates are enjoying their time in Brooklyn, fans should probably do the same. He’s been fun to watch. Same with the others. The team may be 6-9 but they’re
- Latest Nets win shows why Sean Marks has work to do before trade deadline – Erik Slater – Clutch Points
- Nets’ Cam Johnson ignoring the outside noise to produce his best offensive season ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News