2 Reasons the Kings should and 2 reasons they shouldn't trade for Cameron Johnson
By Mat Issa
After trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets have signaled to the NBA world that they are in rebuild mode. As a result, one of the pieces they will be looking to sell off is Cameron Johnson. One of the teams that has expressed some interest in the 28-year-old forward is our Sacramento Kings.
But what are the benefits of trading for Johnson? What are the downsides? In this article, we avoid talking about the specifics of what a potential Johnson trade would look like (although I do pitch an idea at the very end), and instead, we will focus on the pros and cons of bringing Johnson to Sacramento.
Reason #1 For Trading For Johnson: Guaranteed Marksman
Of all the wings/forwards the Kings have been rumored to be interested in (Jerami Grant, Kyle Kuzma, and Brandon Ingram), none of them are the caliber of marksman that Johnson is.
Player | 3-Point % | 3-Point Attempts Per 75 Possessions |
|---|---|---|
Jerami Grant | 40.2% | 5.6 |
Brandon Ingram | 35.5% | 4.2 |
Cameron Johnson | 39.1% | 8.1 |
Kyle Kuzma | 33.6% | 6.9 |
Last season, Johnson shot 39.1% from three, and that wasn't just some weird statistical anomaly (we know that 3-point shooting can be prone to high degrees of variance). In fact, in every year of his career except 2020-21, Johnson has shot at least 39% from three or higher, even shooting 42.5% (97th percentile, per Dunks & Threes) from three in 2021-22.
On top of that, Johnson takes a high volume of threes (which is actually more important for spacing than efficiency). Last season, he was in the 87th percentile in 3-point attempts per 75 possessions. He's been in the 87th percentile or higher in this category every year of his career.
Between him and Keegan Murray (the all-time leader in threes made as a rookie), the Kings would have themselves one of the best spacing forward duos in the NBA (if not the best).