Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson arrived in Brooklyn together and were so close in Phoenix that they were known as the Twins.
Bridges was traded last week, but could Johnson be next?
“Obviously, we didn’t accomplish our mission this year. I have nothing against that, to be honest with you,” Johnson said after the Nets missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. “But like I said, it’s all part of the process.”
You win, you lose, you just focus on getting better and what you can do from now on.
“And right now, my mind is on how can we improve our organization, how can we get better on and off the court and get back to where we should be.”
The question is, where is Johnson?
The Nets have thrown in the white flag on any hopes of a title run anytime soon, signaling a complete rebuild by sending Bridges across the East River to the rival Knicks.
Their declining mission has left veterans like Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith as trade targets, and both have already attracted some interest.
The Post reports that the Cavaliers are interested in Johnson, while HoopsHype reports that the Kings, Raptors, Pacers and Magic also have at least some level of interest.
Brooklyn has also reportedly been in contact with the Lakers, according to The Athletic.
But despite claims that the Nets are interested in reuniting with point guard D’Angelo Russell, sources told The Post that it’s not likely to happen.
So with L.A. missing out on target Klay Thompson due to their poor shooting, could Johnson be next?
None of the interest rates are particularly shocking.
Johnson, who returned to Arizona to watch the WNBA Phoenix Mercury lose to the Connecticut Sun on Monday night, has the profile NBA teams are looking for.
In what was perceived as a down year, Johnson battled a number of injuries (calf, leg, shoulder, ankle, adductor and toe) but still averaged 13.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in 58 games.
Still, he shot 44.6 percent overall and 39.1 percent from 3-point range, just one percentage point shy of his solid career averages.
“It’s all part of it,” Johnson said. “It’s all part of it. Nobody’s ever gonna say you can have everything or everything’s gonna be easy or adversity isn’t gonna happen. So it’s all part of it. You just have to accept it and keep working and keep working and keep focusing on tomorrow and focusing on what you can do today.”
That long-range touch, combined with his age (he’s only 28) and size (6-foot-8) make Johnson a valuable asset.
Johnson averaged 2.4 3-pointers last season, down from his career-high of 2.9 entering the 2022-23 season, but still, he was one of just 10 players league-wide averaging at least 6-7.
Johnson has three years and $68.8 million remaining on his contract, but the deal will be relaxed to a team-friendly extent after next season.
His $21.5 million salary for the 2025-26 season would be just 13.91% of the rapidly rising salary cap, more than affordable for any team that trades for him.
According to Hoopshype, Finney-Smith is drawing interest from the 76ers, but that isn’t expected to happen anytime soon.
After Jacob Gilyard signed a two-way contract with Brooklyn last season, the Nets did not extend him a qualifying offer.
However, sources told The Post that the 25-year-old will travel to Las Vegas with the Nets to play point guard for their summer league team and the two teams will move from there.
