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    Cam Johnson could be Nets’ most valuable trade piece left

    By Brian Lewis,

    4 hours ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0GNTq4_0ua1QGLD00

    With the Nets having done a heel turn from struggling-to-contend to aiming-to-rebuild, where does that leave their experienced veterans?

    Where does that leave Cam Johnson? And what have his conversations about his status with general manager Sean Marks been like?

    “Still trying to figure it out. Still trying to figure it out,” said Johnson, stuck in a situation unlike any he’s experienced.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1uZb1e_0ua1QGLD00
    Nets forward Cameron Johnson (2) drives to the basket. Robert Sabo for NY Post

    “Nah, these situations are so unique in how they present and how team chemistries work. … I wouldn’t say it’s similar to any situation,” he said. “I think it’s very unique to us.”

    Johnson spoke last week in Las Vegas, where he attended several summer league games.

    Nets sign summer league standout Keon Johnson to multiyear contract

    The day the Nets traded Johnson’s longtime friend Mikal Bridges and signaled their intent to tank , that put veterans such as Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dennis Schroder, Ben Simmons and Bojan Bogdanovic on the trade block.

    But the latter trio are all playing on expiring deals, so they could be kept to preserve 2025 cap space.

    Moving Johnson and Finney-Smith seems logical, with the Johnson projected to fetch more in return.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3aoeN0_0ua1QGLD00
    Mikal Bridges was traded away — will Cam Johnson be next? Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

    “We’ve had some conversations with all the vets on the team because it does weigh on people,” Marks said last week. “And I don’t try to sort of breeze over that because it’s a family, and you want to say, ‘Hey, this is a close-knit group.’ It’s a close locker room in there, and when one of their own leaves, it hits home.

    “It’s the reality of pro sports , so I think you have to be upfront and honest with it. And I think everybody — not only on this team but, I would say, around the league — really realizes: Look, it’s pro sports. I’ve been in that locker room. I understand what it looks like and what it seems like and you do have to move on and so forth.

    “But again, you want to be upfront, honest. And ultimately the goal for us is to find continuity, right? Whether that’s through a group of young guys building and growing here together, adding pieces in free agency when we have the opportunity to do so or trading for guys, which we can do. So, the flexibility for us is pretty exciting and intriguing moving forward.”

    What to know about Year 2 for the Nets’ Jalen Wilson and Dariq Whitehead after watching them in Las Vegas

    The Bridges move and the deal with Houston to get their own 2025 and ’26 picks back has given the Nets that aforementioned flexibility.

    But moving Johnson would give them even more.

    In what was viewed as a down year — slogging through adductor, ankle, calf, leg and shoulder injuries — Johnson still averaged 13.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in 58 games.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0VMKoD_0ua1QGLD00
    Cameron Johnson #2 of the Brooklyn Nets goes up for a shot as Jordan Clarkson #00 of the Utah Jazz defends. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

    He shot 39.1 percent from deep, just off his 39.2 career mark.

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    His size (6-foot-8), age (28) and shooting ability combine to make Johnson valuable. Only 10 NBA players 6-7 or taller averaged more than his 2.4 made 3-pointers last season.

    While the Kings, Magic and Lakers are interested, one recent report claimed the Spurs, Raptors or Warriors could be a “dark horse.”

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0CIDnM_0ua1QGLD00
    Cameron Johnson #2 of the Brooklyn Nets goes to the basket as Naji Marshall #8, Zion Williamson #1, and Herbert Jones #5 of the New Orleans Pelicans defend. Getty Images

    NBA analyst Jake Winbach suggested San Antonio could want him, dangling Keldon Johnson and draft compensation.

    While Johnson is entering the second year of a four-year, $94.5 million extension, it de-escalates after next season to just 13.91 percent and 13.85 percent of the salary cap in the final two years, making it team-friendly.

    “I’ll just let whatever happens, happens. Obviously, I think we have a pretty good group in Brooklyn that we can really start to grow something,” Johnson said. “If I’m staying in Brooklyn, then I’m all-in, excited to play, excited to grow this group, and that’s where my head’s at right now.

    “I’m on the Brooklyn Nets right now. Dorian’s on the Brooklyn Nets right now, [Cam Thomas, Trendon Watford], we’re Nets right now, so that’s what we’re focused on is that group. And if something happens, then something happens.”

    Nets forward Jalen Wilson was named the MVP of the summer league in Las Vegas. Wilson averaged 21.8 points and 4.6 rebounds, while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 55.0 percent from deep in five games

    For the latest in sports, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/sports/

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