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Ohm Youngmisuk
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Ohm Youngmisuk
ESPN Staff Writer
- Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
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The Denver Nuggets are trading Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for forward Cameron Johnson, sources told ESPN.
While both players have two years remaining on their contracts, the Nuggets are able to get off Porter’s contract, which has $38.3 million due this coming season and $40.8 million in 2026-27. Johnson will make $21 million this coming season and $23 million the following campaign.
The trade also is the first big move by Denver’s new front office of Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace. It gets Denver out from under the luxury tax and opens up its ability to use most of a $14.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception.
The Nuggets followed the move by bringing back free agent Bruce Brown, who agreed to a one-year deal with the team that he helped win an NBA title with in 2023. Brown’s deal is for the veterans minimum.
Brown was popular in the Denver locker room and played a pivotal role on the championship team. He fits well alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, and Brown averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in 2022-23 with the Nuggets. Last season with the Toronto Raptors and the New Orleans Pelicans, Brown averaged 8.3 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Johnson also appears to be a good fit for the Nuggets. The 6-foot-8 forward enjoyed a breakout season in his sixth year in the league, averaging 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 39% shooting from behind the arc with the Nets.
“I’m excited!” Johnson told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears. “I get an opportunity to compete with some of the league’s best. What more can I ask for?”
Already a solid defender who can space the court, Johnson showed more ability to create shots for himself in Brooklyn this past season, adding a unique dynamic to his profile as a 3-and-D player.
He has struggled with injuries throughout his career, however, and has not exceeded 60 regular-season games since the 2021-22 campaign.
Porter had spent his entire six-year career with the Nuggets, averaging 18.2 points and seven rebounds in 77 games for Denver this past season. Porter was key player during the Nuggets’ title run, and he gives the Nets a career 40% 3-point shooter.
He ends his Nuggets tenure second in franchise history in made 3-pointers with 843, trailing only Murray.
It’s been a hectic past few months for the Nuggets, who fired coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth with three games remaining in the regular season to give the team a spark and try to maximize the remainder of the campaign around Jokic.
David Adelman took over as coach and helped lead the Nuggets to the second round, where they lost in seven games to the eventual NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Adelman was elevated to head coach after the season.
On Tuesday, JJ Barea, a 2011 NBA champion with the Dallas Mavericks, agreed to join Adelman’s staff, sources told ESPN, and will be on the front of the Nuggets coaching bench.
