Nets receive thank you message from Nuggets' Cam Johnson after trade
"First of all, man, just I love the people in that building, my teammates, coaching staff, front office, training staff, strength staff," Johnson said during his recent appearance on "The Young Man and The Three" podcast. Johnson has spoken about his excitement with going to Denver to compete for a championship alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, but he seemed to come away from the deal with good memories of Brooklyn.
"The best part about playing in Brooklyn for me was just showing up to work every day and seeing those guys and ladies that we had in the building," Johnson continued. "I enjoyed it because of that and I had faith in what we were building because of that. I really think (head coach) Jordi's (Fernandez) a fantastic coach. Personnel constantly shifting. We had trades, we had injuries. He always maintained such a good approach to the team and he was always able to motivate us to play hard."
The Nets traded Johnson to the Nuggets in the early days of free-agency for Porter and a Denver 2032 first-round pick that could prove to be a valuable trade asset someday. Johnson was coming off the best season of his career after averaging 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 47.5% from the field and 39.0% from three-point land.
Porter, who has also spoken about his anticipation of a bigger role in Brooklyn, will be trying to replace the production that Johnson provided, if not expand on it. While trades can strain a relationship between a player and the team trading him away, it seems that Johnson and the Nets parted on amicable terms and the former North Carolina Tar Heel gets to play with one of the best players in the league in Jokic as a result.
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