Cam Johnson brought two years’ worth of consistent scoring production to the UNC men’s basketball team.
Johnson, who played his two graduate transfer years in Chapel Hill, averaged 16.9 points per game. He hit plenty of clutch shots and reached double-digits in all but nine games over two seasons, including a Tar-Heel high 32 at Clemson on Jan. 30, 2018.
Johnson’s been working himself into the NBA as one of the league’s most promising young shooters. He’s steadily increased his scoring output and maintained a minimum 42% field goal percentage in each professional season.
Now coming off a career-best scoring season (16.6 points per game) with the Brooklyn Nets across the second half of the 2022-2023 campaign, Johnson is ready to prove he’s a mainstay in the NBA.
The Nets rewarded Johnson for his production last year with a new 4-year, $94-million contract.
It’s easy for a professional athlete to get distracted by this type of money. They could blow it all on lavish gifts, more sports cars than their garages can hold or gambling
Not Johnson, who insists that he wants to show the Nets he’s deserving of his contract.
“I still have the same approach: Just get better,” Johnson told the New York Post at Team USA practice in Las Vegas. “Get better and still feel — I think the main thing that I’ve always felt since I’ve been in the league is just to prove it. To prove it every day. And work for it every day and improve every day, and I’ll continue that mindset as long as I play.”
Johnson is expected to continue being the Nets’ starting forward. According to ESPN’s latest depth chart, Johnson will start alongside Spencer Dinwiddie, former Suns teammate Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton. There’s also a former one-and-done Tar Heel, Day’Ron Sharpe, who could see extensive playing time in Brooklyn.
With Johnson locked down, the Nets can turn their attention to their greatest offseason question mark: Ben Simmons.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.