Grade the trade: Nuggets save millions and acquire value in Porter Jr. deal

Entering NBA free agency, many NBA analysts and Denver Nuggets fans felt that the team’s offseason mostly depended on if they were able to offload Michael Porter Jr. due to his massive salary. He undoubtedly helped Denver win their championship in 2023, but his 38.3mil contract this year and 40.8mil contract next year were hurting the team's flexibility. Well, they made it happen.

The Nuggets' newest front office, featuring Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace, made a splash by trading Michael Porter Jr. and their 2032 1st round pick for Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson. On the surface, this looks like a good trade, but as you dig deeper, the trade looks more and more favorable for the Nuggets.

Not only is Johnson a perfect MPJ replacement in terms of being a great spacing forward on offense, but he is perhaps an even better defender and is on a much more team-friendly contract. This year, Johnson will make just 21mil and next year he will make 23mil, which opens up tons of salary flexibility.

Cam Johnson will surely join the Nuggets starting lineup and be the starting small forward for Nikola Jokic and Co. News came out shortly after that Denver was able to sign former Nuggets champion, Bruce Brown, as well. This makes the deal look even better, but what is the overall grade for the Nuggets on this trade?

Nuggets Swap Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson Grade: A

There is just one potential negative to this trade, which relates to the 2032 Nuggets first-round pick that they gave up. Despite this, there are far too many positives for this not to be a great trade for Denver. Starting with the one negative, the Nuggets gave up the rights to a current 12-year-old who could become a future NBA star in seven years.

Jokic will be either retired or a very slow 37-year-old in 2032, so there is a small chance that the Nuggets pick that year could be a top-5 pick. It is far more likely, however, that the Nuggets aren’t a complete train-wreck, and it is simply a mid-1st round pick that they traded for Johnson and to get off MPJ’s contract. At that point, will fans even care if it helped Denver win another title?

Not only that, but on the production side, there is almost no drop-off going from Porter Jr. to Johnson:

There is the potential question of “what if Johnson doesn’t mesh as well with Jokic and Murray?”. While a reasonable question, the answer seems pretty clear that Johnson has an incredibly high basketball IQ, has meshed both in Phoenix and Brooklyn, has been a contributing player on a finals team, and appears to be a great fit on paper.

Time will tell if Johnson can help the Nuggets win another championship, but the front office for Denver is absolutely crushing the off-season so far!