THE NUGGETS TRANSFORM: Cam Johnson The Swiss Army Lightsaber

What Cam Johnson brings to the Nuggets in a blockbuster deal.

Photo by Takafumi Yamashita on Unsplash

So, about that whole “no big moves” thing…

SET FIRE TO EVERYTHING I SAID HERE.

The Nuggets traded Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday in exchange for Cameron Johnson. It was a home run move. It saved $40 million in tax savings¹, opened up the full non-taxpayer MLE so Denver can add more talent, and added a $16 million trade exception.

The Nuggets then used that trade exception to absorb Jonas Valanciunas from the Kings in a straight-up deal for Dario Saric, drastically improving their backup center rotation. ²

The Nuggets had not just telegraphed that it was going to be a quiet offseason. They had taken out giant billboards on I-25 and I-70 saying “We’re not doing anything, so get ready to learn ‘internal development,’ Dweebs!”

The question, of course, is whether this was always the plan or if this developed once teams really started the work of reshaping their rosters in the last week.

Either way, everyone was fooled. I wrote 700 words about how they wouldn’t do anything because they couldn’t do anything.

Then they did… a lot. And might not be done.

Here’s a look at the moves and how the Nuggets have moved back into true contention in just two days.

CAM JOHNSON FOR MPJ AND A FIRST

PROS: Cam Johnson Is Really Good AND Cheaper

• Significant upgrade in overall capability.

• Lower long-term injury risk.

  • Johnson has availability issues (see below) but does not come with Porter’s history of major back surgeries, which have always been viewed as something like a geological fault where you’re waiting on the earthquake.

• Better lineup versatility at the cost of positional versatility.

  • Fits with more rotation spots without causing drawbacks, less of a power forward than MPJ

• Significant defensive upgrade.

• More fluid athleticism.

• Significant change to financial roster construction.

  • Johnson has two years left like Porter, but makes $17 million less per season.

• Extremely smart player with a more complete game at the cost of extreme ends

  • Shorter at 6-8 than Porter at 6-10

  • Better off the bounce and in various defensive switches.

• Playoff experience is not a downgrade

  • 38 playoff games; 2021 Finals Appearance

CONS: Will He Play? Will He Fit?

• Has not played more than 66 games in a season.

  • There are no significant injuries in his past

    • He had the partial removal of his right meniscus in 2022. He missed two months, came back, and played in their playoff run.

    • His other major injuries have been a quad contusion (bruise) and various ankle and back soreness episodes which kept him out when the Nets were clearly not trying to win games.

• Still, MPJ was incredibly reliable, given his injury history. He played in 63 more games the last three seasons than Johnson.

• Rebounding differential is significant due to size change.

  • MPJ is more of a stretch-four who played small forward, Johnson is more of a small forward who played power forward at times.

• Mike was beloved in the locker room, even when his play or inattention to detail frustrated teammates.

  • There’s no reason to believe Johnson will be a poor fit chemistry wise, but it is a significant change the team will have to adapt to. ³

CAM JOHNSON’S GAME: ALL-AROUND WEAPON

There’s just a lot to love here. One thing about the Nuggets’ championship build — and it was great — was that everyone was hyper-specialized. Jamal Murray is a two-man-game scoring point guard.⁴ Aaron Gordon is a hyper-connector lob finisher and big-wing defender.⁵ KCP was a spot-up weapon and guard defender, Christian Braun is a run-out transition demon and big-guard defender.