Following the conclusion of the 2025 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn Nets made one of the more notable moves this offseason by trading forward Cam Johnson to the Denver Nuggets. Brooklyn received forward Michael Porter Jr. and Denver’s 2032 first-round pick in return for Johnson. While some around the league believe the Nets should have received more in the deal, Brooklyn seemed to get a good return.
“The Nuggets were widely praised for the Cam Johnson trade, but it’s just as much of a win for the Nets,” CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn wrote on the Nets while ranking the team as the 17th-best front office in the league. Quinn was explaining that Brooklyn was receiving too much criticism for their offseason process, especially given the fact that general manager Sean Marks is leading the team through the early stages of a rebuild.
“Denver’s 2032 first-round pick is one of the most valuable outstanding selections in all of basketball, and as bad as Michael Porter Jr.’s contract was in Denver’s specific context, it’s actually a pretty useful trade chip for the Nets, specifically,” Quinn continued. “They’re going to be able to flip it as an expiring deal down the line.”
To Quinn’s point, plenty of pundits have praised the Nuggets for being able to get off Porter’s contract as he’s due over $79 million over the next two seasons. For Denver specifically, Porter was the reason that the Nuggets weren’t able to make meaningful improvements to the roster given that the team wasn’t trading Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray to achieve that goal. Denver was able to trade Porter for a player like Johnson that is coming off a career year.
To some that analyzed the trade, the main appeal for the Nets was to acquire a premium draft pick that they will likely use as a trade chip of some sort while getting Porter gives the roster another competent player. Some might feel that Brooklyn did not get enough value for trading Johnson to a championship-contending team like the Nuggets, but Brooklyn may have come out from the deal with more than many think.