Subscribe
Follow Us
The Brooklyn Nets are tied with the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers for the Eastern Conference's eighth seed. All three teams have records of 9-13. But the Pacers are fresh off of an appearance in the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals. And the Bulls and Nets were discussed all offseason in conjunction with Cooper Flagg.
Cam Thomas' injury has complicated things for Brooklyn. The team has lost three straight games in their dynamo scoring guard's absence. But the debate of whether trying to win games is even best for the Nets lingers. Should the team “tank” in hopes of “capturing the Flagg” or landing another top prospect?
Before Thomas got hurt, he was playing impressive basketball for Brooklyn. A player of Thomas' caliber alone is not enough to win in the NBA, though. And even with the addition of Jordi Fernandez and his strong leadership, the Nets are still several games under .500.
The rest of Brooklyn's season should be about two main factors: increasing the team's chances of being as good as possible going forward and developing the young talent already in-house. Here's why a potential trade with the Indiana Pacers could help Brooklyn accomplish both of those goals.
Trading Cam Johnson could be best long-term move for the Nets
The Nets have not been winning in Thomas' absence, but they have maintained their feisty identity. They're the team that was supposed to be a free win on the schedule but is a cohesively hungry team of veterans and talented youngsters. That makes for fun basketball games. It might not be what's best for the team if they have aspirations of contending for a championship sometime soon, though.
The vibe from Brooklyn has been easy to interpret since the very public divorces of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. This time, they're going to build a team their way. The right way.
Nets general manager Sean Marks traded Durant for a haul and then traded Mikal Bridges for another one. Is the experience young players are gaining from being on the cusp of the Play-In Tournament genuinely worth the significantly lower chances at a top draft selection? It comes down to how close the team thinks they currently are to contending.
The spirited start to the Nets' season is a fun and legitimate credit to Fernandez's coaching and Marks' ability to fill out a roster. But a 9-13 record is not proof that the team is close to being ready to take on teams like Boston, New York, or Cleveland. And that's not even acknowledging the other conference.
Johnson's start to the season indicates he's made a real jump in his ability to impact winning basketball. And that's a great outcome for the Nets. But the best move long-term is to trade the forward while his value is at what could be its highest.
If the Pacers were to offer Obi Toppin, Aaron Nesmith, their 2028 first-round pick with no protections, and their 2030 first-round pick protected through the entire lottery, Brooklyn should consider making the deal. Nesmith is 25 years old and signed through the 2026-27 season at an annual rate of $11 million. Toppin is 26 years old and signed through the 2027-28 season at an average annual rate of $14.5 million. Johnson's average salary of $23,625,000 makes the trade a perfect financial fit.
The two Pacer forwards are both younger than Johnson and veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith. And this trade would open a clear path for Brooklyn to trade Finney-Smith – and even one of Toppin or Nesmith – to contending teams interested in exchanging more draft capital for productive frontcourt players. This could also open up more opportunities for in-house development in the form of playing Noah Clowney or Dariq Whitehead, who just had a statement game against the Bulls.
Parting ways with Johnson may not please Nets fans who are enjoying the team's ability to hover around a .500 record. But those same fans should see themselves as worthy of more. And moves like this are how the team can accomplish more in the future.
The Pacers can invest in what they have by trading for Nets' Johnson
The Pacers are underperforming in large part due to star guard Tyrese Haliburton's early struggles. The young guard has been dealing with a lingering back injury. And in his fifth season, he's on track for both his lowest FG% and 3PT% since entering the NBA.
Pascal Siakam and Bennedict Mathurin have taken on the load of being the team's top two scorers. With Aaron Nesmith still out due to a left ankle injury, Mathurin has earned a starting spot. Nesmith last played on November 1, and head coach Rick Carlisle said recently that he's “weeks away” from returning via CBS Sports.
But what if there was a team in the Eastern Conference that had a fantastic shooter who could play both small forward and power forward? He is someone who would fit in Rick Carlisle's high-octane offense by spacing the floor for Haliburton and Siakam while providing shot creation of his own. And even though he's Brooklyn's best player, they'd be better off long-term trading him away.
That would be convenient, right?
In this hypothetical trade, the Nets trade Cameron Johnson to the Indiana Pacers. And receive Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, the Pacers' 2028 first-round pick, and the Pacers' 2030 first-round pick protected from slots 1-14 in return. Let's break it down for Indiana.
Indiana traded three 1st-round draft picks for Siakam when they acquired him in January 2024. The team is already “in” on Tyrese Haliburton as the lead guard on a playoff contender. And their run to the ECF provides solid proof that it can work in the right situations.
Trading two additional 1st-round selections for Johnson may seem steep at first glance. But Johnson is 28 years old and, because of the extension he signed in June 2023, locked up through 2026-27. The Pacers would be getting the sharpshooting forward in the prime years of his career.
Johnson's offensive impact has been elite for the Nets this season. In his sixth season in the NBA, he seems to have taken a leap. He's on track to both take the most shots per game of his career and record his highest field goal percentage over a season.
Per dunksandthrees.com, his offensive EPM of +3.3 through the 21 games he's played is in the 94th percentile of all NBA players. Johnson had only posted an O-EPM of +1.0 or higher once before in his career, which came in 2023 after his performances in both Phoenix and Brooklyn resulted in a +2.0 for the year.
He's also posting both the highest true shooting percentage (66.0%) and effective field goal percentage (61.5%) of his career thus far. Johnson could do more than get the Pacers' offense back to where it was last season. He's shooting 42.2% on his 7.3 3-point attempts per game this season. Nesmith took 4.6 per game last season, and Toppin took 3.1. Toppin is matching that production this season with 3.1 attempts per game through his 21 appearances off the bench.
By paying in picks to consolidate talent, the Pacers would be taking a gamble on what they already have. The spacing Johnson would bring would boost the impact of Mathurin and Siakam's off-ball cutting. Indiana also wouldn't have to rely as heavily on rookie Johnny Furphy, who is only 19 years old.
The trade cannot be made between the two teams after Toppin's recently signed restriction lifts on December 15. But the trade deadline isn't until February 6, which means they'll have plenty of time to hash this out.
