Nets Rumors: Cam Johnson Expected to Land Contract With $20M-Plus AAV in Free Agency

Cam Johnson turned down an extension with the Phoenix Suns in October that was worth between $66 million and $72 million, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, before the Suns traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in February.

That decision may pay off this summer.

Alex Schiffer of The Athletic reported on Thursday that his "spies are telling me he's going to get more than $20 million a year, and I'm led to believe the Nets have no interest in letting him walk."

The Nets will have the right to match any offer sheet that Johnson signs with another team in restricted free agency, so if they want him to stay, he'll be in Brooklyn.

The 27-year-old had his best season yet in 2022-23, averaging career highs in points (15.5), rebounds (4.4) and minutes (28.5) per game. He also started a career-high 41 games despite missing half the season with a torn meniscus, which sidelined him from early November until mid-January.

Johnson thrived in Brooklyn, averaging 16.6 points while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from three in 30.8 minutes per game. While he and the new-look Nets were swept by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, the development of players like Johnson and Mikal Bridges was a silver lining to an otherwise lost season.

The question is what comes next for Brooklyn after the disastrous end to the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era.

In many ways, the Nets are stuck in basketball purgatory. They have a number of solid players across the roster, but they don't have any bonafide superstars. Bridges appears to be the only player on the team with All-Star potential given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Ben Simmons.

But a full rebuild doesn't make a ton of sense either, as the Houston Rockets own their fully unprotected first-round picks in 2024 and 2026 and can swap first-rounders with them in 2025 and 2027 as well.

The alternative is trying to package a number of role players and the draft picks that the Nets acquired from the Durant, Irving and James Harden trades to land a star player or two. That would almost assuredly require a team also taking the two years and $78.2 million remaining on Simmons' contract, which itself might require draft capital as a sweetener given that the veteran point guard has barely played the past two seasons.

The Nets also might not have enough ammunition to get more than one star player via trades, which could still leave them lagging behind the NBA's top contenders.

The Nets could also maintain the status quo, banking on Bridges continuing his ascension into stardom, a return to form from a hopefully motivated Simmons and players like Johnson, Nicolas Claxton and Cam Thomas continuing to develop.

That group, paired with solid veterans like Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O'Neale, might be scrappy enough to keep the Nets in the playoff picture. This year's first-round sweep made it abundantly clear that the ceiling is low for the current roster, but the Nets previously overachieved with a starless squad, eventually fostering a strong culture that inspired Durant and Irving to sign in Brooklyn.

In any scenario, re-signing Johnson makes sense if his market doesn't get too outrageous. Two-way wings who shoot at a high level are incredibly valuable in the modern NBA. The Nets are going to have to decide what figure they are comfortable matching, however, as Johnson figures to be in demand this summer.