LAS VEGAS – Cam Johnson has battled through injuries, ups and downs and a streak of success that abruptly ended his time with the Phoenix Suns.
He could have easily folded at any low point, but Johnson stuck to what his mother told him after a loss.
“I was a late bloomer in high school,” Johnson said. “The one thing my mom said after I lost my last high school playoff game is that everything happens for a reason. God is in control and it’s not for me to worry, but just to focus on how to be so effective and get better every single day. Even though that lesson is hard to fully digest, I try to go back to it as much as possible.”
Persistence has helped Johnson stay the course and lead to him landing a four-year, $108 million deal with the Nets after being part of the mega Kevin Durant deal that sent him and Mikal Bridges to Brooklyn just before the trade deadline on the 9 .February.
“I couldn’t have guessed right,” Johnson said when asked Tuesday at the NBA Summer League about where he was at this time last year.
“I couldn’t have guessed it, but that’s life and being in this league, you have to be able to handle everything that comes your way at all times. At the end of the day, it’s a blessing to still be a part of it. It’s a blessing to be in a situation with a team that cares about me and cares about my teammates and is doing something important. I have no complaints.”
The deal solidifies Johnson’s future in Brooklyn.
“I can’t lie, it’s very satisfying and at the end of the day, that’s how I look at it,” Johnson said. “Everything happens for a reason. There have been a lot of ups and downs in my career and it hasn’t always looked super promising. You go through injuries, you go through tough losses.”
Johnson played in just 17 games for the Suns last season and missed 37 games with a torn right meniscus. Beginning the season as a starter, Johnson averaged 13.9 points in those 17 games.
After the trade, Johnson averaged a career-high 16.6 points in 25 games (all starts) with the Nets during the regular season. He upped that to 18.5 in the postseason, a playoff career high, highlighted by a monster dunk over 2022-23 NBA MVP 76ers center Joel Embiid.
“When I had the injury in November, the trade, I just tried to keep my head up and keep working, take it one day at a time,” Johnson said. “And (the new deal) is the culmination of that, and like I said, just being able to continue playing this game and being in an environment like that is trying to make me the best possible version of me that I can be. Me myself. Like I said, I got no complaints.”
Johnson and Bridges will represent Team USA in the FIBA World Cup, a milestone that serves as another blessing for the 6-8 sharpshooter.
“It’s going to be so much fun,” Johnson said. “I have spoken to people who have played. I talked to people who have been a part of it. They say it’s such a valuable experience for your career. You can learn a lot from it and you get the experience of watching high-level basketball all over the world in a different type of environment. I am looking forward to it.”
At this time last year, Johnson was in talks with the Suns about a rookie extension, but the two sides couldn’t come to terms on a deal.
At the time, sources told The Republic that the two sides were in the same area code, but Johnson wanted more than Phoenix’s offer of $60 million over four seasons.
A year later, he gets almost $50 million more from the Nets for the same number of years.
“It’s a big relief,” Johnson said. “You try not to think about it. It’s human nature to think about it a little bit, but it’s a blessing, it’s a relief and to be able to move on, just to have a better understanding of what could potentially be in the future, that gives me a lot of comfort and I’m excited to get back to work with these guys.”
When asked about other teams in the mix for him, Johnson, a restricted free agent, said the talks were “very, very, very heavily Nets-oriented.”
Johnson said Bridges reached out to him first, but it wasn’t just to congratulate him.
“It was more of the next batch of dinners that’s on you,” Johnson said. “I guess he forgets he signed a nice deal a little before I did.”
Bridges signed a four-year, $90 million rookie extension while with the Suns.
So Johnson got more money than Bridges, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.
“You don’t want to brag,” Johnson said. “You have the bragging rights, you pick up all the tabs.”
Johnson said he heard from former Suns teammates about his new deal.
“They’re amazing,” he said. “We had such a tight dressing room. Everyone kind of looked out for each other. I’ve been in contact with a lot of them.”
Johnson recently saw Devin Booker at the Mercury game in Phoenix.
“Somebody told me he was over there, so I talked to him,” Johnson said. “Talked about a few things and just checked on him and made sure he’s good and he is.”
Do you have an opinion on the current state of the sun? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.