The Brooklyn Nets’ best-remaining trade chip, Cameron Johnson, has seen his name cycle through the rumor mill all summer. Fans wait with bated breath to see if the 28-year-old forward will be moved for assets while discussing potential returns and the prospect of simply keeping him for the foreseeable future.
Throughout the summer doldrums, numerous hypothetical trades involving Johnson have come out, perhaps none more interesting than this three-team deal recently proposed by Bleacher Report. In the proposed deal, the Nets are the middleman facilitating a Brandon Ingram to Utah trade. The full trade, from the Nets’ perspective, is below:
- Going Out:
- Cameron Johnson (to New Orleans)
- Day’Ron Sharpe (to Utah)
- Coming Back:
- John Collins (from Utah)
- Brice Sensabaugh (from Utah)
- 2025 First-Round Pick (higher from either Cleveland or Minnesota via Utah)
Why this is a valuable return for the Nets
Getting a first-round pick for Johnson is one of the top orders of business for any trade he’s involved in. The Nets check that box here, though the value of that pick is low considering both Cleveland and Minnesota figure to be playoff teams in 2024-2025 barring major injury issues.
Brice Sensabaugh is an underrated return in this trade as well. The soon-to-be 21-year-old combo forward is entering his second season in the NBA. While he underwhelmed last season shooting just 39% from the floor and 29.6% from beyond the arc in 32 games, he’s a young former first-round pick adding to the Net’s collection of young talent.
Scouts have noted that despite his powerful frame (6-6 235 lbs) Sensabaugh doesn’t possess above-average athleticism or explosion as well as below-average length, leading him to be somewhat of a tweener between the 3 and the 4. On the flipside, while he didn’t show it in his rookie year, at Ohio State he displayed a soft touch and good shot mechanics from beyond the arc. He needs work defensively to be able to consistently fill a 3-and-D role and his lack of athleticism may hinder him from fully realizing his potential to become a consistent rotation player.
Finally, John Collins is an interesting veteran coming back. Whereas Cameron Johnson is more of a small forward who occasionally plays the power forward spot, Collins is a true power forward who can occasionally moonlight at center. The 6-9, 235 pound forward is a much better rebounder (8.1 rebounds per game for his career compared to Johnson’s 3.9 rebounds per game), while still providing some value as a shooter beyond the arc with his career 35.8% shooting on threes. He has a player option for 2025-2026 at $26,580,000 which hinders some of his trade value from Brooklyn’s perspective, but also gets the salary off the books quicker than Johnson who doesn’t see his deal run out until 2027-2028.
Why the Nets should pass on this deal
Despite some compelling points, the Nets might not view this as the absolute best return they can get for Johnson. Remember, there’s no rush to trade him as he still is under contract for three more seasons. To that end, the Nets have to be convinced that they can’t wait out a better offer.
The Nets are already flush with picks for the 2025 draft. They have their own first-rounder back, plus three additional firsts, all of which figure to be outside of the lottery as potentially two high second-round picks. Adding a fifth first-round pick in 2025, especially another likely late first, doesn’t do much for the team except make it even easier to package picks to move up in the draft to consolidate assets and bring in more high-end talent. That said, future picks in years beyond 2025 might be more valuable, as bringing in so many rookies at the same time will create a roster crunch while also making it hard to hit the salary floor.
As for Sensabaugh, the idea of acquiring a young player like him is essentially like taking on another draft pick. That has value. The issue here is roster construction. The Nets already have a glut of forwards, and in this deal, they would be losing a young backup center with potential in Sharpe with no obvious replacement. More importantly, the team lacks guards who can run the offense, with only Dennis Schroder and the unreliable Ben Simmons as veteran options. Keon Johnson, meanwhile, is the only young option that is likely to make the roster. Getting another young player back is great, but the fit also should make sense to maximize playing time and development.
Lastly, John Collins is a solid veteran who is still young going into his age 27 season. As a true power forward, he fits the team well in a sense. However, this is not a competing team and his addition does nothing to alleviate the logjam that the Nets face in the frontcourt. The Nets are better served finding ways to get players like Trendon Watford, Jalen Wilson, and Ziaire Williams on the court as much as possible. Complicating things further is Collins’ player option for 2025-2026 which diminishes his value as a trade chip as not many teams will have the flexibility to absorb over $26 million and stay below the second apron.
The Nets don’t need to be in a hurry to move Cameron Johnson. As a three-and-D wing he’s one of the most valuable non-star archetypes in the league, and being under contract for three more seasons at just 28 years old means he should have appeal at the trade deadline, next offseason, and beyond. There’s a long runway before his value starts to diminish, so until then, it would be prudent for the Nets to ensure that the deal they get is best for the present and future of the team.