Cam Johnson still subject of trade rumors

Nets forward's uncertainty continues in offseason

May 7, 2025 John Torenli, Sports Editor

Nets forward Cam Johnson is coming off the best of his six NBA seasons, but still isn't sure if he's part of the Brooklyn rebuild. AP Photo by Noah K. Murray

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Cam Johnson just spent the most productive season of his NBA career pondering whether he’d be traded or not.

Things haven’t changed a bit for the Nets forward this offseason.

“I think honestly, I kind of found myself looking at it the same way y’all were,” Johnson said last week on “The Deep 3” podcast.

“I’m looking at it from the third-person view like ‘What are they going to get for him? What is he going to get traded for looking at myself?'”

Johnson posted career bests of 18.8 points, 3.4 assists and 31.6 minutes per night for Brooklyn over 57 games.

He also led the team in scoring and shot 39% from 3-point range to earn a spot in the 3-Point Shootout during All-Star weekend, as well as mentoring the Nets’ youth movement throughout a 56-loss campaign.

“We obviously value Cam Johnson, and we want him here. He’s been great, he’s gonna continue to be great,” Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernández gushed throughout his rookie season at the helm.

With two years and $43 million remaining on the contract the Nets inherited from Phoenix following the 2023 trade deadline deal that sent Kevin Durant to the Suns for Johnson, Mikal Bridges and four first-round picks, the 29-year-old North Carolina alum remains on the block.

Though Nets general manager Sean Marks shied away from offers for Johnson ahead of last February’s deadline, he will keep his ears open as the summer goes on, especially following Monday’s NBA Draft lottery.

Thus far, however, Marks has clung to Johnson as part of the Nets’ future.

“He carries a big voice, he’s well respected with his teammates, they love him, he’s about the right stuff, and I think … that’s what you want,” the 49-year-old New Zealander insisted.

Nets coach Jordi Fernández watched Cam Johnson bury 39 percent of his 3-pointers this past season. AP Photo by Heather Khalifa

Brooklyn holds the sixth-best lottery-ball odds, giving it a 9% chance to land the top overall pick and the opportunity to draft Duke phenom Cooper Flagg.

The Nets also have slightly better than a 37% shot of landing in the top four.

Lottery balls aside, Marks has already told everyone who will listen that he doesn’t intend to rebuild on the fly.

Brooklyn’s ongoing renovation project following back-to-back, 50-plus loss non-playoff seasons will be about patience and opportunism.

After all, Marks has 15 first-round picks in his pocket to play with over the next six years, including four entering the June 25 Draft at Barclays.

The Nets are also $90 million under the salary cap in case they want to sign a big free agent or orchestrate a sign-and-trade.

“It’s too early to determine. But there’s a variety of different pathways we can go on,” the GM noted during last month’s exit interviews at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

“It’s just about being opportunistic as to how we build and when we go all-in again, so to speak,” he added. “And that could be going all-in with whether it’s free agents or trades, but it also could be go all-in with systematically growing some homegrown talent.”

Johnson isn’t homegrown, but he is the player most coveted by other NBA teams and wants to know how he fits into “Rebuilding the Brooklyn Way” in 2025-26.

“Definitely, definitely (will) go to (Marks) and ask, because I have a very vested interest in what we’re doing here,” he said following the season.

“I feel like I’ve put a lot of effort into trying to be a part of this program. And I take that very seriously. And I feel like I’ve also been given a responsibility to have that approach.”

Superstars rumored to be on the trading block like Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Memphis’ Ja Morant could pair well with Johnson, who proved his unselfishness when Bridges and pending unrestricted free agent Cam Thomas were taking most of the shots in Brooklyn.

Bridges went to the arch rival Knicks last summer and Thomas was limited to 25 games due to injury in 2024-25, leaving Johnson to fill up the scoresheet as well as playing point forward when someone else had a hot hand.

Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has been mentioned in trade rumors to the Nets, who have $90 million in salary cap space available. AP Photo by Michael Conroy

Regardless of whether he stays or goes, Johnson will focus on what he can control: how much better he can get as a player between now and next season.

“I understand that I’m not going to be let in on every decision or have a say in every decision, but I would like to know going forward,” he admitted.

“But it is also my job to at this point work on myself, get better, and handle whatever comes along being a pro in the situation.”

The situation has been the same, in-season or offseason.

Cam Johnson is a wanted man who hasn’t shied away from what he wants.

“Staying here. there’s a lot of familiarity. And you know, a lot that we still want to accomplish,” he said.