Cam Johnson having career year with Nets ahead of visit vs. Suns

PHOENIX — It is once again a homecoming for Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson, albeit far different than the first one.

Johnson’s return to Phoenix last December for the first time since the Suns traded him last February was a bizarre basketball game. It felt like the reason most fans were there was to see him and Mikal Bridges off, wish them well in the future and thank them for their contributions.

Johnson is back again on Wednesday, this time without Bridges, who was traded to the New York Knicks last summer,  and this time without the big-time emotion attached to that day.

Johnson confirmed that being past the anticipation and feelings attached to that day helps this go-around.

“Yeah, right. Back to business,” he said.

Business is booming.

Johnson is averaging a career-high 18.3 points and 2.9 assists per game, all while keeping his turnovers at his lowest mark with Brooklyn (0.7). His 49.8% field goal percentage, 43.1% 3-point percentage (on a career-high 7.6 attempts a night) and 90.6% free-throw percentage add up to a 66.8% true shooting percentage.

Among the 129 players who take at least 10 shots per game this season, that 66.8 TS% is fourth, per Stathead.

His first full season with the Nets last year was uneven, and that can be directly attributed to injuries. Johnson had played 58 games and had nine different gaps he would miss time over. Whether it was one game or a handful, that matters to a player like him. Over his time in Phoenix, Johnson thrived the more he got to play and the more he was able to stay on the court.

The most infamous example of this was when he got hurt prior to the Suns’ run to the NBA Finals in 2021. And when Johnson had his playoff high of 14 points in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, he was out for the series-clinching victory due to food poisoning, and unsurprisingly that plus the elongated break up until the Finals had him put in an uneven performance versus the Milwaukee Bucks.

He is doing his best impression of his twin and has yet to miss a fixture this season.

“It’s rhythm, man. It’s rhythm,” Johnson said of being able to stay healthy. “When you can just settle in and get into a rhythm, it always helps.”

Johnson is available for Wednesday’s game against the Suns after he was questionable due to an ankle injury. You can imagine he’s not looking to miss any time right now.

Especially in a place where he is rather comfortable.

“It’s cool. Honestly, I’m just happy to be able to have another opportunity to play basketball tonight,” Johnson said of being back in Phoenix. “But it’s nice to be able to sleep in your own bed, see the dog and stuff like that. Definitely nice.”

“I really love this arena, the energy that these fans bring,” he added. “Had some pretty cool moments here over the years. So being back here, that familiarity.”

Johnson said being at his house was “actually kind of weird” and didn’t “feel real.”

The Nets are not quite the pushovers of the Eastern Conference some expected them to be. At an 8-10 record, Jordi Fernandez’s squad has a top-10 offense, ranked ninth in Cleaning the Glass’ database. Brooklyn is third in 3-point rate and fifth in efficiency there, a good formula for racking up points.

Surprisingly, it is doing so with a slower offense, one that sits with the sixth-highest percentage of plays in the halfcourt this season.

Outside of Johnson, 23-year-old Cam Thomas is starting to establish himself as one of the best young scorers, while 31-year-old Dennis Schroder is having a terrific year on an expiring contract that will surely generate trade interest the closer we get to February.

“This group, we’ve kind of banded together and I think we’re pretty scrappy,” Johnson said. “And we compete. No matter what the circumstances are, no matter who is on the court, no matter who is available we are going to go out there and compete.”

Thomas is out on Wednesday. In the one game he missed earlier this season, a Nets win, Johnson scored a season-high 34 points.

Contenders certainly checked in with Brooklyn once Bridges departed to keep tabs on Johnson’s availability. He would get 20-plus minutes on any of the top teams in the league, and 30-plus for a few. Every team wants a smart, 6-foot-9 elite shooter who plays his ass off. Perhaps the trade deadline will rekindle his market, although the NBA’s new first and second apron restrictions have made deals much more difficult to put together.

Whatever situation Johnson finds himself in later this season and beyond, you know he’s going to be mindful of the progress he’s made and the steps he’s taken since leaving Phoenix.

“I think that’s a big thing about playing in this league, about playing basketball in general is keeping that perspective,” Johnson said.

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