For much of the second half of the season and the offseason, the prevailing thought around the Nuggets was that they’d be, more or less, forced to trade Cameron Johnson, attaching assets, to get his contract off the books and give them the financial flexibility to re-sign the younger restricted free agent Peyton Watson, who had a breakout January.
But as we all now know, the Nuggets did not trade Johnson, they did not extend Watson, and instead, they agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Cavaliers, sending Watson to Cleveland, only for draft capital.
What wasn’t clear as it was happening was how much this played out by design or due to a lack of a trade market for Johnson. Were the Nuggets getting offers and refusing, or were there simply no takers for Cam and his expiring contract?
Nuggets turned away multiple trade offers for Johnson
Well, now we know that answer thanks to Bennett Durando of the Denver Post, who reported that Denver rebuffed all offers for Johnson that involved them giving up draft picks, that they had “one legitimately good offer”, and turned that down as well, stating that the team viewed him as an “impactful starter”.
Johnson struggled for much of his first season in Denver and had some injury issues, but he turned things around over the course of the year and was one of the team’s best and only consistent players in their first-round playoff series loss to the Timberwolves.
Johnson went down fighting while Watson sat on the bench
Furthermore, Durando pointed out that the final lasting memory for the Nuggets’ front office was seeing Johnson leave it all on the court, putting up 27 points and 8 rebounds in a road elimination game while Watson sat on the bench with a hamstring injury that he possibly could have played through.
Whether that actually factored into the decision-making is something we may never know, but it’s impossible to argue that the Nuggets valued Johnson a lot more than people realized. They’re betting on him getting comfortable in Denver in year two, staying healthy, and having a bounce-back season as a great complement to Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon.
They gave up a lot to get Cam just over a year ago, and although the trade didn’t exactly look like a win for the Nuggets, they clearly still believe in the process and the player. They made that perfectly evident with their actions this offseason, and there should be little doubt going forward that the front office views Johnson as a valuable and important part of this team for the present and future.
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