The Denver Nuggets are getting phone calls on Cam Johnson. They are not answering.
Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype reported that multiple teams have inquired about Johnson, hoping the Nuggets would be willing to dump his $23.06 million expiring contract. Denver has rebuffed those inquiries and made it clear Johnson is staying put.
“Numerous teams have called the Denver Nuggets hoping they’d be willing to dump forward Cam Johnson, who’s owed $23.06 million in the final year of his contract, but those inquiries have been rebuffed,” Scotto wrote.
This is smart business for a Nuggets team trying to build one more real title window around Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Johnson is exactly the kind of skill piece that helps Denver in the postseason.
He shot 43 percent from three and 48 percent from the field last season, both career highs. He played only 54 games because of injuries, but when he was on the court, he was the exact floor-spacer the Nuggets have been searching for since Michael Porter Jr. was moved to Brooklyn in the deal that brought Johnson to Denver.
Denver finished with the third seed in the West and then flamed out in the first round against the Minnesota Timberwolves in six games. That is not the ending a franchise with Jokic pencils in for the summer. Trading Johnson for picks or a random reclamation project would be waving a white flag.
Instead, the Nuggets are running it back. They want Johnson to shoot next to Jokic, they want Murray healthy, and they want another shot at the West with Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun rounding out the wings.
The other reason Denver is holding is timing. Johnson is on an expiring deal. That means the Nuggets can flip him at February’s deadline if the season goes sideways or use his contract as matching salary in a bigger swing. Getting a mid-tier haul for him in July gives up all that optionality.
The Suns drafted Johnson at No. 11 in 2019, and he spent four seasons in Phoenix before landing in Brooklyn. Denver was his third team in three years. Now he is a piece of a Jokic core that has almost no room to make a mistake in this next contract cycle.
Contending teams that were hoping to swipe Johnson for pennies on the dollar are going to have to look elsewhere. A wing shooter with size and defensive tools is one of the hardest things to find at the deadline. The Nuggets know this too. That is why they are hanging up when the calls come in.
For fantasy players and Nuggets fans, this is a green light. Johnson is going to get real minutes and real shots in the Denver offense. If he stays healthy for 70 games, he is going to look like one of the most valuable role players in the league.
The Nuggets have their Big Three vision. Cam Johnson is part of it. And nothing that came in this week was going to change that.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
