A Case Where Trading Johnson To Move Up In Draft Might Make Sense For Nets

Why Is A Nets Assistant Getting A Look To Be Suns’ Next HC?

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Nets fans coming out of their two-week depression from seeing their club draw No. 8 in the NBA Draft Lottery have a new delusion, that somehow General Manager Sean Marks can put together a package to entice a higher-picking team to trade down.

Though Marks still has a boatload of picks at his disposal, consolidation, especially when moving to a premium slot, would likely require a premium cost, such as the 2026 1 Brooklyn got back from Houston last summer.

Unless, that is, Marks is willing to part with wing Cam Johnson, who is coming off an excellent season and has two more years at an affordable $43 million remaining on his contract. Remember back at the trade deadline when Marks’ alleged hope was to get back a pair of 1s for Johnson’s services? Now it would likely take Johnson-plus just to move up in a single Draft.

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie recently submitted a proposal that had the Nets sending Johnson and their two later first-round picks (19 and 27, keeping 8) to Philadelphia for the third overall pick plus salary fillers Kelly Oubre and Andre Drummond, both of whom would have to first exercise their 2025-26 player options. Marks may have a conviction on the Draft pool’s third-best player, but it seems like an awfully poor waste of Jonson’s value to bank on a flawed prospect like Rutgers’ Ace Bailey or Baylor’s V.J. Edgecombe.

May I attempt another pass at this? The consensus is pretty clear that Bailey’s Rutgers teammate Dylan Harper will go at No. 2 after Duke’s Cooper Flagg. San Antonio already boasts 2023 All-Star De’Aaron Fox and 2025 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle to act as primary ballhandlers. Even if Chris Paul walks in free agency, is Harper the best fit they can conceive with such a prime pick?

If I were in charge of both clubs, I might consider the following:

Nets get: No. 2 overall, Keldon Johnson

Spurs get: Cam Johnson, No. 8 and No. 27, and a 2026 second rounder

Cam Johnson would give the Spurs a high-IQ, three-level scorer that has NBA Finals experience as Victor Wembanyama, Castle, et al prepare to take the next step into a Western Conference playoff contender. At 29, his next contract could still age well.

Harrison Barnes should be Marks’ first ask. Unfortunately, even though he’s 32, Barnes is still effective, posting a 50.8/43.3/80.9 shooting split last season, and durable. Including him in the return would be too greedy. Keldon Johnson’s efficiency, meanwhile, has been regressing and is owed $17.5 million over each of the next two seasons. He shot a career worst 31.8% from deep last season and his per-game minutes, points, rebounds, and assists averages were his lowest since his rookie season. The Nets can absorb the cap hit by taking his salary into their $23.3 million trade exception (and simultaneously rolling Cam Johnson’s outgoing deal into a new exception that expires in 2026).

I don’t know if Marks’ evaluation of Harper matches my own—he certainly has had enough first-hand views, having been to about 10 Rutgers games personally, according to NetsDaily.com. Brooklyn needs a lead guard in the worst way and Harper, though still 19, has a mature game that is reminiscent of Knicks star Jalen Brunson with his lefty finishes. At about 6-foot 5 and 213 pounds with a 6-10 wingspan, Harper’s body is NBA ready.

Like Bailey, there were questions about Harper’s effort and shot selection while playing on a team that, if not for their presences, might have gone winless in the Big 10. Harper’s 33% three-point rate last season wasn’t ideal, but it’s not like the stroke is clunky—it could probably use more consistent arc.

Again, this is all fun speculation as there have been no indications that San Antonio is shopping their pick. This just might end up with Brooklyn taking all their prescribed medicines and hoping that their system can make their situation better.

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Like with many opportunities, who you know can trump what you know.

Brooklyn, in its short history, is Exhibit A, having hired first-timers Jason Kidd and Steve Nash to be head coaches for win-now seasons over more qualified options

Add the Phoenix Head Coach search to that list. Among the final candidates to succeed fired HC Mike Budenholzer, according to long-time NBA insiders Chris Haynes and Marc Stein, is Brooklyn assistant coach Steve Hetzel.

Now, Nets fans who lavished praise on the work of HC Jordi Fernandez and his staff during this forgettable past season can make sense of Hetzel’s progression to the competition’s latter stages, but many around the league who see Brooklyn’s 26-56 record and lack of notable development success stories might be saying, “Huh?”

Then they connect the dots. Suns owner Mat Ishbia, a walk-on member of the 2000 Michigan State national champions, is a devotee of the university’s Head Coach Tom Izzo. Hetzel happens to be a former Spartans student manager, with his tenure coinciding with the last season of new Phoenix GM Brian Gregory. Tough to beat Hetzel’s references, right?

Izzo has reportedly been even more effusive with his praise of Jordan Ott, who was a Nets assistant from 2016-2022 before joining Kenny Atkinson’s staff in Cleveland this past season. Ott was also a Michigan State video coordinator for five years. No wonder he is considered by many to be a strong contender for the Suns job along with Dallas assistant Sean Sweeney.

To be clear, I think Hetzel has the minimum credentials for consideration—he’s been an NBA assistant for the last 11 seasons and had head coaching experience for one season with the NBA G-League’s Canton Charge, where Fernandez was his assistant. Should he be a Phoenix finalist, though? That’s in the eye of the one who holds the purse strings.