{"id":654778,"date":"2026-03-12T17:27:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/654778\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T17:27:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:27:20","slug":"cam-johnson-trying-to-find-his-role-with-nuggets-amid-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/654778\/","title":{"rendered":"Cam Johnson trying to find his role with Nuggets amid struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Haunted by his missed opportunity to secure a season-affirming win for the Nuggets, Cam Johnson<\/a> was the last to leave the locker room in Oklahoma City. It was Feb. 27, an emotional night stamped by Nikola Jokic\u2019s fury<\/a> and punctuated by the Thunder\u2019s flex of roster depth in overtime.<\/p>\n

Johnson sat at his locker and stared into space as the minutes passed, as his teammates got dressed and filtered out. He knew the game had been on his fingertips, and there was nothing that could be said to console him in the immediate aftermath of a bitter loss. Nikola Jokic had located him for an open corner 3-pointer in the last 10 seconds of regulation. The overused adage about a make-or-miss league was accurate in this case. Johnson missed, and Denver fell short in OT.<\/p>\n

For that to be his moment of maximum national exposure since joining the Nuggets might have exacerbated the notion that he\u2019s been a failed experiment. The full body of work as a shooter says otherwise: Johnson is 40.9% from 3-point range on 4.4 attempts per game, with percentages of 40 or higher from both corners and above the break. He\u2019s a plus-9.8 per 100 possessions when sharing the court with Jokic, a plus-0.5 without him and a plus-2.5 without Jokic or Murray at his side. The Nuggets are 25-15 when he plays, a better win percentage than when he doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Yet an undeniable feeling has lingered \u2014 for both Johnson and outside observers \u2014 that his fit in Denver has been awkward, his involvement in the offense inconsistent, his confidence elusive. At least to the extent that his role remains a work in progress with one month to go in the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely still an element of figuring it out, and it kind of changes on me a little bit from here to there, just based on how we\u2019re playing and who\u2019s playing,\u201d he said. \u201cBut everybody keeps telling me at the end of the day, just be myself. \u2026 At the end of the day, just go out there and hoop and have fun. That\u2019s easy to lose sight of in the long term and in the short term. But when you kind of reel it back to that and focus on just having fun, playing hard, trusting your teammates and vice versa, you\u2019re setting yourself up for good things to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CameronCameron Johnson (23) and Christian Braun (0) of the Denver Nuggets look into the stands during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)
\nTrying to be more decisive<\/p>\n

The box score and eye test Wednesday indicated that Johnson accomplished that goal in a 129-93 rout of the Rockets. Denver\u2019s small forward went for 17 points, two rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals. His bounce-back performance included a 3-for-5 outside shooting clip. It was his first game with more than 11 points since Feb. 20 and only his third exceeding that number (his season average) since the knee injury he suffered Dec. 23.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets improved to 14-6 when he shoots nine or more times from the field.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s been challenging \u2014 and ambiguous \u2014 for them to parse is how infrequently he\u2019s taken that many shots. His predecessor and trade counterpart, Michael Porter Jr., attempted nine or more in 72 of his 77 games last year.<\/p>\n

As that discrepancy crystallized early this season, David Adelman insisted that it wasn\u2019t a bad thing. Johnson\u2019s impact was subtler, less forceful. More intellectual. His feel for relocation and how it could benefit Denver\u2019s spacing. His judgment as a connector. Even after another mini-slump, Denver has a better offensive rating with Johnson on the floor than with Porter last season. A larger share of the pie has belonged to Jamal Murray, who made his first All-Star team.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been clear for some time now: The Nuggets don\u2019t need Johnson to be MPJ. They don\u2019t need him to replicate the raw numbers.<\/p>\n

They do need him to fulfill what Adelman described last offseason as a \u201cpremium on timely shooting,\u201d however, because basketball at its core is often a game of the id. Jokic and Murray will be swarmed by playoff defenses. The ball will be reversed to Johnson in nerve-racking moments. The Nuggets will need him to be a willing aggressor when those moments arrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve found myself being way too indecisive for too long in the season,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd just trying to figure out where plays are and coverages are and actions are and the spacing of teammates. \u2026 It\u2019s just a little bit of being more decisive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think sometimes, he\u2019s trying to make perfect plays, instead of just making the play that is right there in front of you (that) is the right decision,\u201d Adelman said. \u201c\u2026 These guys have to find their rhythm. They come back. As he finds his rhythm and then new people come back, and the rotation changes, and it feels different, everyone\u2019s trying to do the right thing for the guy next to him. Sometimes, it stunts flow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson first hit his stride in November, as other Nuggets were dropping like flies. He never quite found his footing during the 10-game stretch before that, when Denver was fully healthy and fully operational to start the season. Now he\u2019s had four months to reflect on those 10 games while waiting for his next chance to play with that lineup again, as originally conceived. The reunited Nuggets were three games in after their win over Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see just what I was trying to figure out then,\u201d Johnson said, looking back. \u201cIt\u2019s just a work in progress. We still have to get P-Wat back, too. That\u2019s another element that adds a really crucial dimension to our team. But I think everybody as a team is going through the same thing. Everybody\u2019s going through the same thing. Where can I be most effective in my contributions for the team?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 It becomes a personal responsibility of understanding how to be most efficient and be most, when I say efficient, just efficient in my impact on the game. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve been trying to navigate. Just today, take a step. Tomorrow, take a step. And keep on taking steps. Our goals are a lot bigger than tonight. Our goals are to keep playing deep into the spring and into early summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the numbers continue to back up his ability, the next step is to showcase it consistently in high-stakes games. Johnson hasn\u2019t been part of a playoff win since 2022, and Denver will need him ready for heightened physicality in April. He struggled to leave a mark in both of Denver\u2019s recent visits to Oklahoma City, combining for 13 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and three turnovers across 62 minutes. The understatedness of his role felt louder, more concerning. A missed shot left him dejected.<\/p>\n

Whatever trance he was in that night in the locker room, he appeared to have snapped out of it Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Cam is naturally just hard on himself,\u201d Christian Braun said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s good. He\u2019s a guy that you love to have in the locker room. He\u2019s such a great teammate. \u2026 He\u2019s gonna be so big for us down the stretch. He\u2019s gonna hit big shots. He\u2019s gonna make big plays on both ends. And I think on defense, he\u2019s been really good. So I don\u2019t know that it\u2019s been a tough year. Obviously, he had the injury and whatnot. But he\u2019s playing well. He\u2019s shooting the ball well. When he plays like he does tonight, we\u2019re really tough to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Haunted by his missed opportunity to secure a season-affirming win for the Nuggets, Cam Johnson was the last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3794],"tags":[7,1828,561,765,250,301,187,766,292,194,4066,1035,762,165,764,252,6,253,302,211,66],"class_list":["post-654778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston-rockets","tag-basketball","tag-cam-johnson","tag-christian-braun","tag-colorado","tag-david-adelman","tag-denver","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-front-range","tag-houston","tag-houston-rockets","tag-houstonrockets","tag-injury","tag-jamal-murray","tag-latest-headlines","tag-michael-porter","tag-more-nuggets-news","tag-nba","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-nuggets","tag-rockets","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116217384924143915","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}