Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving the Milwaukee Bucks hurts, but the Greek Freak left the team with options to set a path moving forward. One of them, which stemmed from his desire to land with the Miami Heat, is a $25.5 million trade exception that allows the Bucks to take back a big contract and not sending anything out. That has Cam Johnson written all over it.
Bucks should gladly help Nuggets
The Nuggets are in a financial crunch. They want to re-sign Peyton Watson but would like to shed other salary beforehand. Per Tim Bontemps, this could lead to them exploring the trade market of Christian Braun and Cameron Johnson. Both players would fit into Milwaukee's exception, but the obvious choice for Milwaukee would be Johnson.
With just one year and $23 million on his deal, taking on Johnson would be a short-term move with little long-term consequences. If the Nuggets were willing to attach some sort of draft capital to get the Bucks to take him, given how desperate they are to re-sign Watson, a deal would become all the sweeter for Milwaukee. Johnson would be an excellent fit with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Bucks could use a small forward (and trade chip)
The Milwaukee Bucks are loaded at the guard and center spots depth-wise, but their small forward spot remains somewhat slim. Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nate Ament can split time at the spot, but there might be times when both play the power forward spot. Also, teams can simply never have enough depth on the wing. Johnson could help.
Without their draft pick next season, no one should expect the Bucks to tank. This team will want to win games. Johnson, who is 30, could help with that. With Denver last year, he averaged 12.2 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 43 percent from downtown. If the Nuggets are simply looking to get rid of a player like that, Milwaukee should oblige.
Of course, given that he's 30, Johnson likely wouldn't be in Milwaukee's long-term plans. If the team acquires him and raises his value throughout the course of the season, they could always look to flip him to a contender ahead of next season's NBA Trade Deadline to acquire more assets. With a focus on youth, the Bucks should build for the future and stack assets whenever they can—reasonably.
Taking in Johnson could be a low-risk move to beef up the Bucks' depth for no cost.
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