Brooklyn Nets: Indiana, Sacramento Maintain Interest in Cam Johnson Trade

The Indiana Pacers could be a contender to trade for the Brooklyn Nets’ Cam Johnson, per NBA insider Jake Fischer on Bleacher Report.

“I’m not ready to say the Pacers are the Cam Johnson favorite right now, but of all the teams I’ve heard that have had interest, they’re the one team in the league of late that I have not been told [...] that interest has cooled down, or there hasn’t been talks,” Fischer said.

However, Fischer added that he has not “been told that there's any conversations there that have gotten particularly close.” The Stein Line previously linked Johnson to the Pacers on Jan. 5. Indiana were also mentioned as a possible destination for the 28-year-old on a Jan. 10 ClutchPoints report.

Johnson is currently having the best season of his NBA career. He is averaging 19.4 points on near-50/40/90 shooting splits. The Nets wing’s 3-point shooting, mature decision-making, positional size and ability to fit into more of a complementary role make him a seamless fit across most scenarios.

Johnson is making $22.5 million this season, his second of a four-year, $94.5 million contract. For trade purposes, he has $4.5 million in bonuses that need to be factored in when thinking about a possible deal. Those bonuses apply to a team's apron, rather than the luxury tax. It has previously been speculated that the Pacers could match Johnson’s apron salary by trading Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith.

The Brooklyn sharpshooter is the hottest name ahead of the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline. Everything indicates that the Nets want two first-round picks and additional compensation in order to trade Johnson. He has also been connected to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Sacramento Kings in past weeks.

On the Kings’ part, Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, and a potential first-round pick package is a proposal that front offices around the league "know about,” per Fischer, and are looking at "some type of benchmark to go beat" to acquire Johnson. Sacramento was linked to Johnson in early January. The Stein Line reported then that Sacramento held conversations with the Nets but was unwilling to move rookie Devin Carter. NetsDaily, citing league sources, added that the two teams had talked but were “debating” Brooklyn’s compensation.

Cleveland hold “interest” in Johnson, but that trade might be tougher for the Cavs given their scarce future first-rounders. Changing a team that is already playing really well has its risks, as well.

Fischer said that the Nets see themselves in "kind of like a two-year sort [of] pseudo rebuild, tanking mode." The organization is not expected to pursue Brandon Ingram or another big fish, unless “someone they couldn’t say no to” becomes available.

He said: “I think the Nets are going to be very conservative with who are the next iteration of 'stars' or all-star level talents that they're going to actually be willing to use their cap space for, and push chips into the table for. I don't think we're going to see the Nets go back and recreate or try to recreate the Kevin Durant [and] Kyrie Irving joint free agent signing of 2019.”

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