Cameron Johnson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Bagley, Aldridge, Johnson, Lakers

March 16th, 2021 at 10:18pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Marvin Bagley III‘s latest injury makes his future with the Kings even cloudier, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic. Bagley is out indefinitely after suffering a fractured left hand on Monday. The career of the 2018 draft’s No. 2 overall pick has been sidetracked by injuries. He missed 20 games as a rookie with knee and back injuries and played just 13 games last season due to a broken right thumb and foot sprain. Bagley’s hand injury will hinder the Kings’ ability of evaluating how he fits long-term but his $11.3MM salary for next season may scare away some teams from dealing for the big man, Jones adds.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

LaMarcus Aldridge would be a better fit with the Suns than the Lakers or Trail Blazers, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic opines. The Spurs are sitting the veteran power forward while seeking to trade him or buy him out. Aldridge would benefit from the Suns’ superior ball movement, Rankin argues, as he will not only get more shot attempts with them but also quality looks from up top and in the lane.
Cameron Johnson remained out of action on Monday due to the league’s health and safety protocols, Rankin tweets. The second-year Suns small forward hasn’t played since March 2. The 2019 lottery pick is averaging 10.4 PPG.
The Lakers have a number of major decisions upcoming, beginning with their approach to the trade deadline and buyout market. The Athletic’s Jovan Buha and Danny Leroux explore those issues, as well as a look at free agency this summer and whether to re-sign Dennis Schröder.

Western Notes: Curry, Green, C. Johnson, Jazz, J. Hall

March 4th, 2021 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors veterans Stephen Curry and Draymond Green didn’t make the trip to Phoenix for Thursday’s game and won’t be available, reports Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s a rest day for Curry, who will be participating in the All-Star Game this weekend. As for Green, he’ll get an extra day of rest for his sore ankle before Golden State gets a week off for the All-Star break.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Second-year sharpshooter Cameron Johnson also won’t play in Thursday’s Suns/Warriors contest, as he’s been placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. If Johnson is subject to contact tracing, he could be good to go following the All-Star break, but if he has tested positive for COVID-19, he won’t be available for the start of the second half either.
After waiving Shaquille Harrison last week, the Jazz are still about $1.2MM above the luxury tax line, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who suggests Utah could still get out of tax territory by paying a team to take on Juwan Morgan‘s contract before the trade deadline, then filling its open roster spots off-and-on with 10-day contracts for the rest of the season. Of course, a bigger trade that reduces team salary would also work.
The Thunder recalled rookie two-way player Josh Hall from the G League bubble on Wednesday, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link). Hall, who played in just one game for the OKC Blue at Walt Disney World, was listed on Wednesday’s injury report as out due to left knee soreness.

Suns Pick Up 2021/22 Options On Ayton, Bridges, Johnson

December 22nd, 2020 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have exercised their fourth-year team options on the rookie scale contracts of Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges, along with the third-year option on Cameron Johnson‘s rookie deal, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

All three options apply to the 2021/22 season, guaranteeing each player’s salary for that year. Ayton’s option is worth $12.63MM, Bridges’ is for $5.56MM, and Johnson’s has a value of $4.44MM.

None of the decisions came as a surprise, as all three players have established themselves as promising young contributors in Phoenix.

Ayton, the former No. 1 overall pick, averaged 18.2 PPG, 11.5 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 38 games (32.5 MPG) in 2019/20 after serving a 25-game suspension to start the season for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension in 2021.

Bridges, who will also be extension-eligible next year, recorded 9.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.4 SPG with a solid .510/.361/.844 shooting line in 73 games (28.0 MPG) last season. He moved into Phoenix’s starting lineup later in the season, including for the team’s 8-0 run during the summer restart.

Johnson, the 11th pick in the 2019 draft, averaged 8.8 PPG and knocked down 39.0% of his three-point tries in 57 games (22.0 MPG) as a rookie. The Suns will have to decide next year whether to exercise his $5.89MM fourth-year option for 2022/23.

Pacific Notes: McNair, Achiuwa, Clippers, Johnson

September 18th, 2020 at 2:35pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New Kings general manager Monte McNair will be bringing an impressive resume to Sacramento, per Kyle Ramos of Kings.com. McNair served in various capacities with the Rockets for over a decade, mostly recently as vice president of basketball operations under general manager Daryl Morey.

McNair puts a special emphasis on using analytics in his player assessments, thanks in large part to his tenure with Houston. Ramos cites McNair’s discussion of this very topic at various MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conferences. “Organizationally, it helps to have that philosophy where it’s like ‘Hey, we’re going to try stuff until it works’ and you can look across other sports to see what they’ve done to innovate,” McNair said at the 2020 Sloan Conference.

There’s more out of the NBA’s Pacific Division:

Energetic Memphis big man Precious Achiuwa could be a great fit for the Kings with the No. 12 pick in this year’s NBA draft, writes James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Andrew Greif of the LA Times examines what went wrong for the Clippers‘ ignominious early playoff exit. An executive who spoke with Greif opined that Los Angeles will remain vulnerable without a play-making point guard. “Running it back is great, but the Clippers are beatable,” the executive told Greif. “They need a point guard. They’ve got to get one. They need better chemistry. They’ve got to do a better job scheming and adjusting.”
Suns rookie forward Cameron Johnson, the No. 11 pick in the 2019 draft, detailed his experiences on the NBA’s restart campus with Gina Mizell of Valley Tales. He also reflected on what it means to ascend to the next level of basketball talent. “When you get [to the NBA], now everybody kind of has to play their role, but we still all push to get better in every category,” Johnson said. “For me, it’s a lot of ballhandling, shooting off the dribble, understanding defenses from an offensive perspective and how to attack them.”

Suns Notes: Offseason, Oubre, Johnson, Akyol

August 17th, 2020 at 5:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns will have to decide this offseason whether they want to try to bring back known commodities like Aron Baynes, Dario Saric, and Frank Kaminsky, or whether they want to opt for an unknown commodity via cap room, writes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link). Baynes is an unrestricted free agent, but Saric is restricted and the club holds a team option on Kaminsky.

Kelly Oubre‘s expiring contract will be another factor to watch for the Suns this fall, according to Marks. On paper, it seems like a slam dunk that Phoenix would want to make the 24-year-old wing a part of the club’s long-term future, Marks writes, but Oubre wasn’t part of the team’s 8-0 run in Orlando this summer, and there’s some positional overlap with young Suns like Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson.

Here’s more on the Suns:

The Suns have faced criticism for a number of their roster moves in recent years, but the club showed this summer in Orlando that the roster was built with a purpose, according to Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer. Tjarks singles out last year’s drafting of Cameron Johnson at No. 11 as a decision that was panned at the time, but seems to be working out well.
Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic explores what’s next for the Suns after their success in Orlando, wondering if the summer represents a jumping-off point for making Phoenix a desirable destination for NBA players.
Turkish wing Cenk Akyol has announced his retirement at age 33, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Akyol, the 59th overall pick in the 2005 draft, never played in the NBA, but his rights were held by the Suns, who acquired them in a 2017 trade with Atlanta.
Earlier today, we broke down the Suns’ odds for this Thursday’s draft lottery.

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Warriors, Wiggins, Johnson

April 3rd, 2020 at 11:35am CST by Luke Adams

Two Lakers tested positive for the coronavirus last month, but head coach Frank Vogel said on a conference call on Thursday that he wasn’t tested at that time and he doesn’t think his assistants were either. As Dave McMenamin of ESPN outlines, Lakers players underwent tests even if they weren’t experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, but the coaching staff wasn’t given the same directions.

“It’s just, we were not told to be tested,” Vogel said. “And obviously everybody recognized the shortage of tests and we were only going to do what the local health department told us to do. So, we weren’t asked to be tested at that point.”

Interestingly, according to Vogel, it’s not just the general public that doesn’t know the identities of the Lakers players who were affected by the coronavirus. The veteran coach told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan that he’s also in the dark about which two players who tested positive.

“I don’t even know who are they,” Vogel said, “and I’m totally fine with that.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

On Thursday’s call with reporters, Vogel also said it would be a “huge disappointment” if the Lakers don’t get a chance to compete for a title this summer, but said he and his team understand the situation. “We get it, and this is bigger than basketball,” he said, per Bill Oram of The Athletic. “And us getting back on the court is not the most important thing for the world right now. Hopefully we have that chance, and if we’re not able to, it would be a big disappointment.”
The Warriors‘ ability to spend on free agents during the 2020 offseason will be limited, but Anthony Slater of The Athletic suggests there are dozens of players who could be fits, ranging from long-shots like Paul Millsap to lower-cost options like D.J. Augustin or Meyers Leonard. In Slater’s view, veteran wing Jae Crowder would be the best fit for Golden State among the realistic mid-level-type targets.
Can Andrew Wiggins, who has a .372 winning percentage in 454 career NBA games, be a reliable contributor on a contender? That will be one of the key questions facing the Warriors during the 2020 offseason as they decide whether to stick with Wiggins or flip him in a trade, according to Mark Schanowski of NBC Sports Chicago.
With the help of Gina Mizell of The Athletic, Suns rookie Cameron Johnson details his recovery from mononucleosis and how that experience gave him something of a “head start on the whole quarantine thing.”

Cameron Johnson Sidelined With Mononucleosis

March 10th, 2020 at 11:44am CST by Arthur Hill

Suns rookie Cameron Johnson has mononucleosis and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, according to Arizona Sports 98.7.

Johnson sat out the last two games, but was a regular part of the rotation before that. The 11th pick in the 2019 draft, he’s averaging 8.1 PPG in 49 games and shooting 39.7% from 3-point range. The illness comes at an unfortunate time as Johnson had a chance to further establish himself with Kelly Oubre possibly missing the rest of the season following meniscus surgery.

The Suns also provided an update on Frank Kaminsky, saying he remains out indefinitely while recovering from a stress fracture in his right patella.

Kaminsky is putting up 11.0 PPG and 4.9 RPG in his first season in Phoenix, but hasn’t been able to play since late December. He has a follow-up consultation with his doctors scheduled for this week.

Suns Sign Cameron Johnson, Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque

July 6th, 2019 at 9:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

First-round pick Cameron Johnson has signed his rookie scale contract with Phoenix, according to the NBA’s transactions log.

The Suns selected the sharpshooting forward out of North Carolina with the No. 11 pick after trading down from No. 6 in a deal with the Timberwolves. The move represented the biggest surprise in the lottery.

[RELATED: 2019 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

Terms of Johnson’s contract weren’t announced, but under the rookie scale he is eligible to earn $4,033,440, $4,235,160, $4,437,000 and $5,887,899 in his first four seasons.

Phoenix also signed the 24th pick, Ty Jerome, who was acquired in a trade with the Celtics, and Jalen Lecque, who agreed to sign with the Suns shortly after he went undrafted (Twitter link). Like Johnson, Jerome will get a standard rookie scale contract, but terms of Lecque’s deal aren’t known.

Suns Acquire Saric, Johnson From Wolves For Culver

July 6th, 2019 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The Timberwolves have officially acquired the draft rights to No. 6 pick Jarrett Culver in exchange for Saric and the rights to No. 11 pick Cameron Johnson, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 20: The Timberwolves and Suns have reached an agreement on a trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Minnesota is moving up to No. 6. In exchange for the sixth overall pick, Phoenix is receiving Dario Saric and the No. 11 overall pick, says Woj.

It’s the second trade agreement of the day for the Suns, who also reached a deal to send T.J. Warren and the No. 32 pick to the Pacers. Saric will help fill in the gap in the frontcourt created by Warren’s departure, slotting in as a stretch four alongside franchise center Deandre Ayton.

Saric, 25, averaged 10.6 PPG and 5.6 RPG with a .437/.365/.880 shooting line last season in 81 games for the Sixers and Timberwolves. He was part of the package Philadelphia sent to Minnesota in exchange for Jimmy Butler, and has now been dealt twice in the last year.

Meanwhile, new Timberwolves head of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, who wasn’t part of the front office when the team acquired Saric last fall, is showing right away that he’s not afraid to be aggressive. Minnesota is now in position to potentially draft one of the top point guards of the 2019 class — with the Hawks expected to draft De’Andre Hunter at No. 4, at least one of Darius Garland or Coby White should still be on the board at No. 6.

There have been rumors in recent weeks linking the Timberwolves to point guards, since Tyus Jones and Derrick Rose are headed for free agency and Jeff Teague is entering the final year of his contract. We’ll have to wait to see what Rosas has in mind for the No. 6 pick though.

According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Rosas had been trying to move up to No. 4 or No. 5 before ultimately reaching a deal with the Suns for No. 6.

Draft-Night Notes: Bazley, Thunder, Bulls, Suns

June 20th, 2019 at 8:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Some teams holding mid-first-round picks have expressed interest in forward Darius Bazley and he could go earlier than projected, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets. A McDonald’s All-American, Bazley didn’t go to college and instead spent the year preparing for the draft.

We have more draft nuggets:

The Thunder are engaged in trade talk with teams to move back in first round from the No. 21 pick, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
The Bulls didn’t shop shooting guard Zach LaVine when they explored ways to move up in the lottery, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Chicago wound up holding onto the No. 7 pick and selecting North Carolina point guard Coby White. LaVine has three years and $58.5MM remaining on his contract.
The Suns’ selection of North Carolina power forward Cameron Johnson at No. 11 after trading down from the No. 6 pick earlier in the day was the surprise of the lottery. According to SInow’s Jake Fischer, it was an even bigger surprise due to injury concerns. Several teams red-flagged Johnson out of the first round due to his history of ailments on both hips (Twitter link).
The Sixers are trying to move up from the No. 24 pick, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. They’re hoping to snag either UNC small forward Nassir Little or USC shooting guard Kevin Porter Jr. and could wind up with one of them even if they don’t make a deal, Pompey adds.