2 days Ago By Terrence Jordan
The Oklahoma City Thunder are already one of the favorites to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy at season’s end, but with the trade deadline approaching in early February, general manager Sam Presti will certainly be on the lookout for a move that could help put his team over the top. One player that the Thunder have expressed interest in is Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson. With the Nets already involved in two trades this season, it would seem that the question isn’t if Johnson is available, but at what price.
Many NBA fans were surprised that the Los Angeles Lakers weren’t able to get Johnson added to the deal they made last week in which they acquired Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Nets, but the reality is that although the Lakers certainly could have used Johnson’s skills, they probably didn’t have enough in the way of draft assets to meet Brooklyn’s demands. The Thunder would have no such problem, as they have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to draft picks. OKC has five first-rounders this year and four in 2026, meaning they could outbid any other team that comes calling for Johnson.
What Cam Johnson could bring to the Thunder The Thunder are 27-5 and in the midst of a 12-game regular season winning streak (their loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup Finals doesn’t count towards the standings), but adding Johnson would make them even more formidable. The six-foot-eight small forward is having easily the best statistical season of his career, as he’s averaging a career-high 19.1 points per game while also posting his best assist numbers (3.
1), and free-throw shooting percentage (88.9%). Johnson is also a very good defender, which is a prerequisite for joining a Thunder team that currently ranks first in the NBA in defensive rating.
His size allows him to switch onto any player on the perimeter, and it’s easy to imagine him harassing opposing ball-handlers alongside Alex Caruso, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , and Jalen Williams. Johnson has had to increase his usage on the undermanned Nets, but he won’t be asked to carry the load on the Thunder. Instead, he can thrive in an off-ball role while taking advantage of SGA’s ability to distribute and run the offense.
The Thunder could get a steal OKC is already loaded with young talented players, and upsetting team chemistry by making a deal does have to be a major concern. Johnson has shown throughout his career, though, that he’s more than willing to play a secondary role, whether it was on the Phoenix Suns with Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges, or on the Nets with Bridges, Cam Thomas, and Dennis Schroder. The Thunder’s bounty of young talent means that nearly all of those picks that they have will never play for the team.
Presti needs to use them to put the finishing touches on the roster, and looking around the league, it’s difficult to imagine many available players being a better fit than Johnson, both in terms of his skill set and his contract. Johnson’s deal runs through the end of the 2026-27 season for around $22 million per year, so trading for him would be more than just acquiring a mercenary rental to make a one-year run at a title, it would be acquiring a foundational piece that could be around for the long haul. The Nets weren’t able to get any first-round picks in trading away Schroder, Finney-Smith, and Milton, but Johnson would almost surely command at least one if not multiple, picks along with a player or two to match salaries.
This is a price that the Thunder should be more than willing to pay. How could Cam Johnson find himself in Oklahoma? Thunder insider Clemente Almanza spoke to Nets insider Sharif Phillips-Keaton last week to discuss what a potential trade could look like, and they settled on a win-win for both teams that would see Johnson going to OKC in exchange for Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams, a 2025 top-six protected first-round pick, and 2028 first-round swap with the Mavericks. In this scenario, Johnson would be a natural upgrade, and the Thunder would only be giving up two players who are averaging the ninth- and 11th-most minutes on the team.
The draft pick and swap would also be a small change for OKC, but Brooklyn GM Sean Marks could demand a bit more, simply because a) the Thunder have more picks than they know what to do with, b) Marks knows that Presti is motivated to make a deal to increase his team’s title chances, and c) he knows that Presti won’t want to see Johnson traded to one of OKC’s rivals instead. The sooner the Thunder can get moving on making a deal happen, the sooner they can begin to integrate Cam Johnson into the team. There’s value in getting those extra reps, even if the postseason is still months away.
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