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Denver Nuggets to trade Michael Porter Jr. for Brooklyn Nets' Cam Johnson

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones06/30/25brianjones_93
Michael Porter Jr. Cam Johnson
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images//Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

The Denver Nuggets are trading Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2023 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson, according to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania. The news came in as NBA free agency began.

Michael Porter Jr. has been with the Nuggets since the start of his NBA career in 2018. During the 2022-23 season, Porter averaged 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and helped Denver win the NBA championship. This past season, Porter tallied 18.2 points and seven rebounds per contest.

Porter has two more years remaining on his contract and is expected to make $38.33 million during the 2025-26 season. “I would play basketball, you know, before my injuries. You know, now it’s a little different, like it sometimes feels like a job, but I love basketball so much,” Porter said on the Ringer NBA Podcast in August, per NBC Sports. “I would have played this game for free as long as I could eat. I loved it. So like, the money—that was never my goal. My goal was to be like, take this as far as I could take it, be as good as I could be.

More on Michael Porter Jr. and Cam Johnson

“So man, the money almost honestly sometimes makes it a little bit harder to enjoy the game because with a max contract comes a lot of expectations on consistency, on you’re supposed to be an All-Star, you’re supposed to be this, that, whatever they say.”

Cam Johnson has been with the Nets since February 2023. This past season was his best as he averaged a career-high 18.8 points in 57 games. Johnson began his career with the Phoenix Suns in 2019. On draft night, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected him at No. 11 overall but was immediately traded to the Suns.

Trade rumors have been circling Johnson since the start of the 2024-25 season. At the end of the year, Johnson talked about his future with the Nets.

“[I’ll] definitely go to [general manager Sean Marks] and ask because I have a very vested interest in what we’re doing here,” Johnson told NBA insider Michael Scotto. “I feel like I’ve put a lot of effort into trying to be a part of this program and I take that very seriously.”