NEW YORK — That didn’t take long.
Fifty minutes into Friday’s NBA free agency kickoff restricted free agent Cam Johnson agreed to terms on a contract that keeps him in Brooklyn for the foreseeable future.
Johnson and the Nets struck a deal reportedly worth $108 million over the next four seasons, according to ESPN. The move keeps “The Twins” — Johnson and franchise cornerstone Mikal Bridges — as foundational pieces while Brooklyn maneuvers the rebuild in the aftermath of the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving midseason trades.
Retaining Johnson also keeps the Nets competitive in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. With a treasure trove of draft assets and a number of championship-caliber role players on tradable, team-friendly contracts, the Nets can put together a compelling trade offer for a star looking for a change of scenery.
Retaining Johnson was the second move the Nets made on Friday.
Brooklyn traded longtime starter Joe Harris to the Detroit Pistons in a cap space-clearing move that also cost the Nets two future second-round picks. Harris was owed $19 million in the final year of his contract, and both keeping him on the payroll and re-signing Johnson would have further buried the organization in luxury tax payments.
The Pistons were also the most widely-reported team expressing interest in Johnson as a restricted free agent, with The Athletic suggesting the franchise was willing to offer the forward a four-year deal paying upwards of $25 million per year.
The Harris deal not only shed his salary, but also removed Johnson’s biggest suitor from the market. Johnson’s new contract has an average annual value of $27 million.
It’s a lot to pay for a player who has no All-Star appearances and has never averaged more than 14 points per game before his midseason trade to the Nets alongside Bridges as part of the Kevin Durant deal.
But the market is the market — and the 27-year-old forward earned his keep with his production in a short sample size last season.
Johnson averaged 16.6 points and five assists and shot 37.2% from 3-point range after his arrival in Brooklyn. He averaged 18.5 points on 42.9% shooting from downtown in the playoffs, shouldering a larger offensive role when Bridges became the focal point of the Philadelphia 76ers’ defensive scheme.
The Sixers swept the Nets but Johnson shined in the series. With this contract, the Nets hope his ascent continues through 2027 and beyond.
With Johnson and Bridges locked into deals, the Nets can now focus elsewhere on the roster.
Brooklyn needs another offensive star to pair alongside Bridges, who averaged 27 points per game after the trade to the Nets but struggled to generate quality offense as the No. 1 scoring option in the playoffs. The Nets do not have cap space to sign such an offensive star in free agency, so their only route to acquiring that caliber of player is through trade.
With Harris now in Detroit, Ben Simmons — who makes $77 million over the next two seasons — and Spencer Dinwiddie, who is owed $18.8M in the final year of his deal, are two of the Nets’ four-highest paid players.
Dinwiddie’s deal fully guaranteed on Friday. The Nets could have waived him and would have only been on the hook for $10 million of his salary, but doing so would not have made business or basketball sense.
Dinwiddie, however, remains a trade option if the Nets are attempting to make an upgrade at the point guard position. Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard has been linked to the Nets, given his strong relationship with Bridges, but there has yet to be any firm traction on a deal.
The Nets also have two battle-tested veterans — Royce O’Neale and Dorian Finney-Smith — who can be easily traded for a future first-round pick.
There are a number of paths Brooklyn’s front office can explore, but after Friday, all roads will lead through The Twins: Bridges and Johnson.
