Brooklyn Nets wing Cam Johnson had an eventful 2022-2023 NBA season to say the least. He started this season as a member of the Phoenix Suns and was named the starting power forward over veteran Jae Crowder (which was the reason that Crowder effectively held out to force a trade). Johnson played in the first eight games of the season before suffering a right knee injury on Nov. 4 that required surgery.
Johnson returned to play Jan. 19, ironically against Brooklyn, and scored 19 points. The former North Carolina Tar Hell played with Phoenix until Feb. 9 when he was traded to Brooklyn in the Kevin Durant deal. Johnson proceeded to play 29 games for the Nets (25 in the regular season, four in the playoffs) and showed that he could be more than what he was in Phoenix as just a 3-and-D played.
Johnson displayed his ability to make plays off the dribble as Brooklyn needed more people to create shots for themselves and others. Johnson, 27, showed that he was ready to be a guy that deserved a $20 million per year contract when he hits restricted free agency this summer. While Brooklyn was trying to avoid the play-in tournament, some of the headlines were about how much Johnson can expect to make in restricted free-agency. Johnson was asked during his exit interview on Sunday where he stands regarding where he wants to be next season and this was his response:
“I have to do some evaluation on that front (restricted free-agency), you know? I’ve been pretty locked into the season and not necessarily looking too far ahead, because it is a big unknown. But, I’ve talked to the people here a little bit and, in terms of how the season went, and what the future could look like. And, you know, like I said, the people in his organization, I believe, are very, very high quality people. Everything from front office, to coaching staff, to performance staff, to equipment staff, to chefs. I think our chefs are freaking incredible. And, that is not lost upon me. And, I take that into very serious consideration. And, you know, I don’t assume that that’s the case everywhere, you know? I think there’s a special group of people here and that’s really probably the main thing that I take away from this end of season push.”
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