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Cam Johnson's restricted free agency was among Brooklyn Nets' top questions entering the offseason. Despite rumors of potential poison-pill offer sheets from the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn promptly locked Johnson down on a four-year, $94.5 million deal.
The extension, the first of his career, was a load off Johnson's shoulders following a tumultuous season that saw the Suns trade him in a blockbuster deal for Kevin Durant.
“Oh, it’s a big relief,” Johnson said at Summer League. “You try not to think about it, but human nature kind of makes you think about it a little,” Johnson said. “But it’s a blessing, it’s a relief, and being able to move forward having a better understanding of what could potentially be in the future gives me a lot of comfort and I’m excited to get back to work with these guys.”
The deal locks up Johnson long-term alongside his “twin” Mikal Bridges, who was among the league's top performers during a 30-game stint to close last season. Bridges made it known that he wanted the Nets to pay his longtime teammate, and he was the first person to call Johnson after news of the deal broke:
“Mikal was the first to call, but it was more of a ‘the next X amount of dinners are on you,’” Johnson said with a laugh. “So he seems to forget he signed a pretty nice deal a little while before I did.
“He conveniently forgets that.”
Johnson's deal, initially reported as four years, $108 million, includes $4.5 million in likely projected bonuses and $13.5 million in projected unlikely bonuses. It's also front-loaded, with the highest cap hit in the first season at $25.7 million before dropping to $23.6 million in 2024-25 and just $21.6 million in 2025-26.
With the new CBA making it far more challenging to build high-priced rosters, Johnson said the deal was crafted to offer the Nets better long-term flexibility.
“Yes, that’s a big part of it,” he said of the front-loaded terms. “I want to be surrounded by the best players possible. I want to be on the best team possible. So as to how the contract is weighted, it’s not like they’re taking or adding anything to it, it’s just a distribution of it. I was trying to be as flexible as possible in allowing the best for the team situation.”
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Johnson averaged 16.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.3 steals on 47/37/85 shooting splits in 25 games with the Nets last season. He was Brooklyn's top playoff performer during the Nets' first-round series against Philadelphia, averaging 18.5 points on 50.9 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent from three (7.0 attempts per game).
HAVE A HALF, CAM JOHNSON.
22 points (Playoff career-high)
4 threes
9/13 FG📺: TNT | Game 2 | PHI Leads 1-0#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/e8smk0R9tm
— NBA (@NBA) April 18, 2023
General Manager Sean Marks emphasized that retaining Johnson was a top priority following the Durant trade, making the quick signing a relief as he continues building out Brooklyn's roster this offseason:
“(It was) very important. When you trade for a guy like Cam, he’s a priority. We made that known from Day 1,” Marks said. “We wanted to make sure we kept Cam. We tried to recruit him the whole time he was here. Show him this is what Brooklyn is all about. So to get that done probably gives big peace of mind for not only us but for Cam.”
The Nets had clear chemistry problems after a trade deadline that saw four of their five starters change. Those issues were on full display during Brooklyn's first-round sweep against the 76ers.
Johnson's now looking forward to a full offseason and training camp as the team pivots to a new era:
“Just build, man, continue to get better,” Johnson said. “The one thing that was tough about it last season was trying to merge so many teams all at once. Guys coming from Dallas, guys coming from Phoenix, the pre-existing guys in Brooklyn. We’re just every day fighting to establish an identity and establish an order in how we want to do things.”
“So having this full offseason, having training camp, we’re doing a lot of team building right now and trying to be a connected team. Because that’s first and foremost when it comes to success. We do not have the five best players in the world on our team, but who can be the most connected, who can execute what they need to execute the best, and who can play together the best?”
“It goes a long way in our league, and we have very, very talented players, so if we put it together we can accomplish a lot.”
