Getty Mikal Bridges #25, Cameron Johnson #23, Cameron Payne #15 and Jae Crowder #99 of the Phoenix Suns react during the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks
It has been over a month since Kevin Durant shocked the NBA world with his trade request to the Brooklyn Nets. It was shortly after Kyrie Irving opted into the final year of his contract in Brooklyn, and all signs were the Nets would run it back with the addition of a healthy Ben Simmons. Then, Durant made his request to team owner Joe Tsai, and nothing has been the same since. KD listed two team’s at the top of his desired list to be traded to and it was the Phoenix Suns and the Miami Heat.
So far, no real traction has been made in Durant discussions. The Heat aren’t expected to have enough valuable players, or good enough draft picks to meet Brooklyn’s historically high expectations. The Suns matched the historic offer sheet that the Indiana Pacers signed Deandre Ayton to, cutting him out of any trade talks. Without Ayton, Phoenix isn’t currently expected to be able to come up with an offer that entices Brooklyn to do the deal.
The trade pieces that Phoenix was offering was players like Mikal Bridges, Joe Crowder, and Cam Johnson, as well as some draft picks. One of the players in the discussions recently spoke on his lack of desire to be dealt from the valley of the sun.
Cam Johnson Speaks Candidly on Nets Trade
Cam Johnson spoke with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic this weekend at his second annual CJ23 Invitational 3-on-3 basketball tournament for an interview where he shared candid comments about being involved in trade discussions with the Brooklyn Nets.
“Kevin Durant is demanding a trade out of Brooklyn on the first day of free agency.
Oh wow.
The Nets All-Star has Phoenix and Miami atop his trade wish list.
Uh oh,” Rankin writes.
Johnson, who was in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his brother Puff Johnson, a guard on the current University of North Carolina’s Men’s Basketball Team, shared what it was like as the trade request was announced.
“I’m sitting in the locker room and the news breaks. It’s Puff’s teammates, my teammates. I’m like, nah man, don’t put me in this. And next thing you know, whoever it was, Windy (Brian Windhorst) or somebody on the TV was like naming the potential trade targets. Naming DA, me, Mikal. And I was like, come on man, but it’s the business. Like I said, it’s the business. If that’s something that gets done, then that was just part of God’s plan, and you’ve got to keep on rolling,” Johnson told Rankin.
For clarity, Johnson’s lack of enthusiasm for being traded to the Nets is because he is happy about all that is going on in Phoenix and likes his team and teammates there that he doesn’t want to be traded. It doesn’t seem it is anything against Brooklyn or the franchise.
Durant Trade Update
While the Nets have been unable to find a trade offer they like for Durant, the latest reports are that Brooklyn has “not given up” on the potential that Durant will rescind his trade request and see what the Nets, as currently constructed, could do to compete. They have had a better offseason than many people are talking about with the additions of Royce O’Neale and TJ Warren. Ben Simmons will be healthy. Will that be enough to encourage Durant to give the team a shot?