{"id":29746,"date":"2025-07-01T11:45:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T11:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/29746\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T11:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T11:45:14","slug":"cam-johnson-to-nuggets-for-michael-porter-jr-national-grades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/29746\/","title":{"rendered":"Cam Johnson to Nuggets for Michael Porter Jr. national grades"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nuggets made a huge splash at the start of free agency on Monday night, trading away starting forward Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected first-round pick to the Nets for forward Cam Johnson, according to a league source<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Denver also reached an agreement to sign free agent Bruce Brown<\/a>, a key member of its 2023 championship squad.<\/p>\n

The moves radically change the team\u2019s core and opens the Ben Tenzer-Jon Wallace era<\/a> in the Mile High City with a bang. Here\u2019s a look at how members of the national media are grading the trade:<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Kevin Pelton<\/a> (Nuggets: C, Nets: B)<\/p>\n

\u201cOn paper, Johnson and Porter are two of the NBA\u2019s most similar players. Both are combo forwards who debuted in 2019-20, shot over 39% from 3-point range and averaged just shy of 19 points per game last season. Porter is a better rebounder, and Johnson is the slightly superior playmaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key difference, of course, is that Porter will make $79 million over the two remaining seasons of a max rookie extension he signed before a back injury cost him nearly the entire 2021-22 season and slowed his development. Porter returned as a key contributor for the 2023 Denver championship team but has never averaged as many points or shot as well from the floor as he did in 2020-21 at age 22.\u201d Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fansided\u2019s Zachary Rotman<\/a> (Nuggets: A-, Nets: B)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis deal makes a good amount of sense for both sides. The Nuggets offloaded a really rough contract in Porter and replaced him with a cheaper and better player. For Brooklyn, they acquired a first-round pick that can prove to be quite valuable down the road, especially if Nikola Jokic is no longer around by 2032, but while the deal makes sense for both sides, it feels like there\u2019s still one clear winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cPorter might be the bigger name in this deal, but there\u2019s no disputing who the better player is. Johnson provides a lot more value on both ends, and will do so while making significantly less money.\u201d Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SB Nation\u2019s Ricky O\u2019Donnell<\/a> (Nuggets: B+, Nets: A)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in favor of the Nuggets using the pick as a trade chip. Jokic will be 37 years old in 2032 and at the very end of his career, if he\u2019s even still playing. The Nuggets\u2019 championship window is right now with Jokic in his prime, and they owe it to a generational superstar to go all-in on trying to get another championship. For as great as the Thunder were in the regular season, they looked shaky in the playoffs. Denver pushed them to the brink even with some bad luck, and they\u2019re better now.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould Denver have gotten a better player than Johnson by dangling its unprotected 2032 pick? That\u2019s my only real hang-up here. This feels like the Nuggets\u2019 big swing for the foreseeable future, which means it has to be the one to put them over the top. I like it, but would love to know what else was out there.\u201d Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Sporting News\u2019 Gilbert McGregor<\/a> (Nuggets: A-, Nets: B)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is masterful work from Denver\u2019s front office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best way to complement Jokic is by surrounding him with cerebral talents, and Johnson fits that bill to a T. While there may not have been many eyes on him last season in Brooklyn, Johnson averaged a career-best 18.8 points per game while shooting 39.0 percent from 3-point range.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying next to Jokic, Johnson will seemingly get countless catch-and-shoot opportunities and will also benefit greatly from being a high-IQ player.\u201d Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

USA Today\u2019s Lorenzo Reyes<\/a> (Cam Johnson: A, Nuggets: A-, Nets: C+, Michael Porter Jr.: D):<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce seen as a key piece in\u00a0the deal that sent Kevin Durant from the Nets to the Suns, Johnson had been languishing away on a Nets team that was still not close to competing in earnest. Since being traded to Brooklyn, the Nets won 71 out of a possible 196 games (.362 winning percentage) \u2014 including a sweep in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, Johnson goes to a 50-win team that took the eventual NBA champions to seven games in the conference semifinals and one that is two years removed from a title. With Nikola Jokic\u0301\u2019s superb passing ability, Johnson, 29, should thrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s excellent with the ball in his hands and in pick-and-roll scenarios. Throwing him into the mix with Jokic\u0301 and point guard Jamal Murray should only lead to a jump in production.\u201d Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports\u2019 Morten Stig Jensen<\/a> (Nuggets: B, Nets: A)<\/p>\n

\u201cRelinquishing a 2032 first-round pick, unprotected no less, to shed Michael Porter Jr is expensive, maybe too expensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut getting Cam Johnson in there is not only an awesome fit, he\u2019s also on a far more manageable contract ($21 million compared to Porter Jr\u2019s $38.3 million), which provides the Nuggets with far more flexibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the Nets, who are in no rush, they just got a potentially juicy future first for taking on more money, exactly as they should.\u201d Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n

Originally Published: June 30, 2025 at 6:38 PM MDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nuggets made a huge splash at the start of free agency on Monday night, trading away starting…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[7194,4439,3134,1370,25480,17660,1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-29746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-cam-johnson","9":"tag-colorado","10":"tag-denver-nuggets","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-michael-porter","13":"tag-more-nuggets-news","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114777812113634780","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}