Free agency started slow, but things heated up about an hour after 4 p.m. MT when ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported that the Denver Nuggets traded Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 first-round pick to the Nets for Cam Johnson. Shortly after, Charania reported that Bruce Brown signed a one-year deal to return to Denver. Who is the biggest winner from those two moves? Nikola Jokic.
Josh Kroenke fired Michael Malone and Calvin Booth with three games remaining in the regular season. He felt it was a necessary move to save the Nuggets' season. It was a controversial decision that turned out to be smarter than anyone expected, even after Denver's season ended in the semifinals for the second consecutive year, with a Game 7 loss to Oklahoma City, the eventual champion.
How did the Nuggets respond? They didn't have a pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, but they do have DaRon Holmes II, who missed his rookie season with an Achilles tear. Denver fans worried that the team wouldn't make moves to maximize the roster around Jokic, but that thought was short-lived.
It cost the Nuggets a first-round pick, but swapping MPJ for Johnson is massive. Adding Brown back into the mix is huge, too. Denver's new front office regime isn't messing around.
Nuggets trade for Cam Johnson, sign Bruce Brown
Jokic led Denver to its first-ever title in 2023. The Nuggets had the best player in the world and a great bench. Over the past two years, only the former was true. After Denver's season ended at the hands of OKC, Jokic said that teams with longer benches and rotations were the ones who were winning. It was a message to the Nuggets, one that they took to heart.
Denver knew it couldn't keep Porter Jr. around for more than one reason. The team needed to trade MPJ to gain some financial flexibility, and they did so for a player who is a career 39.2% shooter from three-point range. Johnson averaged a career-high 18.8 points on 47.5% shooting from the field and 39% shooting from deep this past season in 57 games. Yes, it was on a bad Brooklyn squad, but Johnson's shooting is for real.
Nuggets fans already know what Brown brings to the table. Having him come off the bench again will feel like deja vu, in the best way.
Everyone who fired up the NBA trade machine with Jokic proposals can close that tab. He was never going anywhere to begin with, and he especially isn't going anywhere now. The Nuggets are making moves!