The Denver Nuggets had rolled with a very similar starting lineup for a while.
This offseason, they took a big swing at changing it.
That meant a trade, sending Michael Porter Jr. And an unprotected first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Cameron Johnson.
MPJ is playing great in Brooklyn. Cam, not so much in Denver.
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Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley has called it the most regretful move of the Nuggets' offseason.
This is how Buckley makes his case:
To be clear, nothing is keeping the Nuggets up late at night right now. Well, nothing beyond any post-game partying that their scorching-hot start to the season has initiated (10-3 with a wholly dominant plus-11.5 net rating).
Even this decision could eventually go down as a good one. Johnson's fit still seems snug on paper, and he's too good of a shooter for his connection rates to stay this low (38.9 overall, 28.9 from three) for too much longer.
All of that said, Johnson hasn't been anything close to what Denver thought it was getting when it swapped out Michael Porter Jr. And an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to add him.
Again, Johnson could (and arguably should) snap out of this funk at any moment, but the early returns on this costly investment are not good.
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It's fair to suggest this could get better.
Johnson has a long track record of being a quality NBA player.
But in big trades, it always feels better when it works early. And this one has not worked out early on.
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