The Denver Nuggets And Brooklyn Nets Pull Off The First Big Trade Of Free Agency By Swapping Michael Porter Jr For Cam Johnson

Earlier today Shams promised us we would see some BIG deals tonight, and while it took a little while once free agency to start for us to get any sort of needle moving trade, it finally happened about an hour into free agency

I know this might not be the "sexiest" trade involving huge stars, but don't overlook it. This is a pretty big swing for the Nuggets, and in my opinion, they knocked it out of Coors Field for a few reasons.

For starters, Cam Johnson is a better player. Just as good, if not better as a shooter, especially C&S, but can also put the ball on the floor and is a much better option in terms of a wing defender. What's one thing you want around Jokic? Shooting. What did the Nuggets need to improve from last year? Their perimeter defense. So, from a basketball fit, it's impossible not to love this for the Nuggets. 

But that's only half of the story here. Not only was this trade great from a basketball standpoint, it was also massive from a salary cap/savings standpoint. This trade is what allowed the Nuggets to open up almost all of their non-taxpayer MLE, and what did they immediately do with that money?

Matthew Stockman. Getty Images.

Advertisement

They brought back a crucial part of their 2023 title team in Bruce Brown. You'll remember, Brown was awesome for the Nuggets that year and was such an important part of their title run to the point where he simply priced himself out of what the Nuggets could offer that summer. He got his bag from the Pacers, got traded to the Raptors and was sort of a nomad, but now here he is back to where he looked his best as a pro. 

So when you combine the money they saved and the players they then brought in, that's easily worth MPJ and that unprotected 2032 pick. We might not even be alive by 2032, so in the meantime, it's crucial that the Nuggets maximize whatever they can around Nikola Jokic. He might actually be the winner of the summer up until this point, because it's hard to come up with better "others" to put around Jokic than Johnson/Brown. Outside of perhaps the Rockets, you could make the case that the Nuggets have just shot up the ranks in terms of Western Conference teams who have had a very impactful summer. 

As of now, the entire league is chasing the Thunder. One team that got pretty damn close to taking them out this past postseason, was the Denver Nuggets. If you were to say, swap MPJ for Johnson/Brown, how does that matchup look now? They still have to address their backup point guard situation, but it's early. This was the big move that helped the Nuggets reshape their roster with better fits for what they needed and the types of players who thrive around Jokic, and really, that's all that should matter to the Nuggets. 

Is this the type of BIG deal that Shams was eluding to? It's big don't get me wrong, but I'm still going to need more before we officially let him off the hook.