It would be an understatement to say the Phoenix Suns have had a rough couple of years, which only makes the heroics of 2021 feel more and more like a dream as time goes by. When we think of that group who made it to the NBA Finals, four of the players are always brought up by fans as being the reason why they went as far as having a 2-0 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges. That core should have been kept together for longer, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. The fifth member of that group is beloved in Phoenix, but does not get nearly enough credit throughout the league for all he did for that version of the Suns. He is about to with the Denver Nuggets.
Cam Johnson is going to excel for the Nuggets next season.
Few teams in the league heading into 2025-26 have more pressure on them to win than the Nuggets. They've got one of the best players of all-time in Nikola Jokic, and so every season with him in his prime comes with the expectation of winning it all. They have done a great job of re-tooling around the Serbian big man, and adding Johnson for Michael Porter Jr. looks a clever move.
The Nuggets definitely impressed with their free agency moves yesterday:
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 1, 2025
- Swapping Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson, while saving $17 MILLION
- Signing Bruce Brown Jr. back for the MINIMUM
- Full $14.1M MLE available to help Nikola Jokic.
That's why they are who they are. pic.twitter.com/9Z3SLnmmZW
In his last postseason run with the Brooklyn Nets, he put up an impressive 18.5 points in 38 minutes of action, albeit across only four games. That team needed Johnson to play above his role however - and if you go back to his stint with the Suns - he was super comfortable outkicking his coverage on any given night.
His playoff numbers don't jump off the page - a shade over nine points in 34 appearances including three starts - but that 41.4 percent from 3-point range on 3.9 efforts gives you a clue into his true offensive value. Johnson is much more than a spot-up shooter - his game is much more diverse than that - but he is at his best when operating in the space created by others.
In the past that was Booker and Paul, so can you imagine how good he's going to look playing alongside Jokic? Even better, it would be fair to say Johnson is a player who will move without the ball. There is nobody on earth better than Jokic than both finding and rewarding cutters and movers, and it will be fascinating to see Johnson also add a new element to his game as well.
Whereas the Nets needed him to be an offensive vocal point, the Nuggets instead can have him running around screens in the ways Stephen Curry does so effectively. His shooting under pressure in the playoffs has proven he can make those shots, and as already pointed out he is a willing runner.
That would be getting away somewhat from Nuggets basketball - it is rightly all about Jokic when he has the ball in his hands - but they could do with having a Plan B from time-to-time anyway. When they need somebody to carry them for small stretches as well - just like Porter Jr. often tried to do - Johnson is also qualified to do that.
This was a brilliant addition by the Nuggets, and it hurts because Johnson would have excelled in Phoenix. Imagine him coming home in more of a veteran role alongside Booker - with a more diverse offensive game to boot - to try and bring that franchise back to the glory days of 2021. Johnson is going to be one of the surprises of next season.