Brooklyn has prioritized retaining restricted free agent forward Cameron Johnson this summer, as they should. He is a prototypical stretch four — athletic, averaged 16.6 points a game last season in Brooklyn after being traded from Phoenix in the Kevin Durant deal, and shot 37.3% from 3 (and better than 40% for the season).
That’s also why other teams with cap space are eyeing him and could come in with an over-the-top offer to poach Johnson.
One of those teams was the Detroit Pistons, but the Nets took the Pistons off the board by sending them Joe Harris in a trade for next to nothing. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic broke the story simultaneously.
Along with Joe Harris, Nets sent a 2027 Mavericks second-rounder and 2029 Bucks second-rounder to Detroit, sources said. https://t.co/GppoNEyylk
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2023
This is a brilliant move by the Nets. They send off Harris — one of the game’s best shooters but not a long-term part of their future — and his $19.9 million expiring contract and trade him into the Pistons’ cap space. This simultaneously frees up more money for the Nets to match any offer and limits the cap space the Pistons have available to make an offer to Johnson. The Nets essentially took the Pistons off the board.
This trade works for Detroit, too. It adds a career 43.7% shooter from 3 to put next to a young guard core of Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey to space the floor, and it brings in a respected veteran to the locker room. The Pistons get him for next to nothing, and while they don’t get a shot at Johnson, it was highly likely Brooklyn would have just matched the offer anyway.
