That didn’t take lengthy.
Fifty minutes into Friday’s NBA free company kickoff restricted free agent Cam Johnson agreed to phrases on a contract that retains him in Brooklyn for the foreseeable future.
Johnson and the Nets struck a deal reportedly price $108 million over the following 4 seasons, according to ESPN. The transfer retains “The Twins” — Johnson and franchise cornerstone Mikal Bridges — as foundational items whereas Brooklyn maneuvers the rebuild within the aftermath of the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving midseason trades.
Retaining Johnson additionally retains the Nets aggressive within the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. With a treasure trove of draft belongings and quite a lot of championship-caliber position gamers on tradable, team-friendly contracts, the Nets can put collectively a compelling commerce provide for a star on the lookout for a change of surroundings.
Retaining Johnson was the second transfer the Nets made on Friday.
Brooklyn traded longtime starter Joe Harris to the Detroit Pistons in a cap space-clearing transfer that additionally value the Nets two future second-round picks. Harris was owed $19 million within the remaining yr of his contract, and each holding him on the payroll and re-signing Johnson would have additional buried the group in luxurious tax funds.
The Pistons had been additionally probably the most widely-reported workforce expressing curiosity in Johnson as a restricted free agent, with The Athletic suggesting the franchise was keen to supply the ahead a four-year deal paying upwards of $25 million per yr.
The Harris deal not solely shed his wage, but in addition eliminated Johnson’s greatest suitor from the market. Johnson’s new contract has a mean annual worth of $27 million.
It’s so much to pay for a participant who has no All-Star appearances and has by no means averaged greater than 14 factors per recreation earlier than his midseason commerce to the Nets alongside Bridges as a part of the Kevin Durant deal.
But the market is the market — and the 27-year-old ahead earned his maintain along with his manufacturing in a brief pattern measurement final season.
Johnson averaged 16.6 factors and 5 assists and shot 37.2% from three-point vary after his arrival in Brooklyn. He averaged 18.5 factors on 42.9% capturing from downtown within the playoffs, shouldering a bigger offensive position when Bridges turned the point of interest of the Philadelphia 76ers’ defensive scheme.
The Sixers swept the Nets however Johnson shined within the collection. With this contract, the Nets hope his ascent continues via 2027 and past.
With Johnson and Bridges locked into offers, the Nets can now focus elsewhere on the roster.
Brooklyn wants one other offensive star to pair alongside Bridges, who averaged 27 factors per recreation after the commerce to the Nets however struggled to generate high quality offense because the No. 1 scoring possibility within the playoffs. The Nets wouldn’t have cap house to signal such an offensive star in free company, so their solely path to buying that caliber of participant is thru commerce.
With Harris now in Detroit, Ben Simmons — who makes $77 million over the following two seasons — and Spencer Dinwiddie, who’s owed $18.8M within the remaining yr of his deal, are two of the Nets’ four-highest paid gamers.
Dinwiddie’s deal absolutely assured on Friday. The Nets may have waived him and would have solely been on the hook for $10 million of his wage, however doing so wouldn’t have made enterprise or basketball sense.
Dinwiddie, nonetheless, stays a commerce possibility if the Nets try to make an improve on the level guard place. Portland Trail Blazers famous person Damian Lillard has been linked to the Nets, given his robust relationship with Bridges, however there has but to be any agency traction on a deal.
The Nets even have two battle-tested veterans — Royce O’Neale and Dorian Finney-Smith — who might be simply traded for a future first-round decide.
There are quite a lot of paths Brooklyn’s entrance workplace can discover, however after Friday, all roads will lead via The Twins: Bridges and Johnson.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com