Nets trading former OLSH star, Pitt player Cam Johnson to Nuggets

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets are trading Cam Johnson to the Denver Nuggets for Michael Porter Jr. and a first-round draft pick, according to multiple reports Monday.

The swap of forwards shortly after free agency opened sends Johnson back to the Western Conference, where he helped Phoenix reach the 2021 NBA Finals, two years before Porter helped the Nuggets win the title.

The Nets will receive the Nuggets’ 2032 first-round pick in the deal.

Johnson, a Moon native who starred at OLSH and played three seasons at Pitt, averaged a career-high 18.8 points in 57 games last season. The Nets acquired him when they sent Kevin Durant to the Suns at the 2023 trade deadline, and there was speculation throughout the season he could be dealt to a contender by a Brooklyn team that is rebuilding.

The Nets had already dealt away Mikal Bridges, Johnson’s close friend who came with him in the Durant deal, to the Knicks last summer in a trade that netted them five first-round picks.

Now they get another one along with Porter, who averaged 18.2 points in 77 games, all starts, last season. But he injured his shoulder in a scramble for a loose ball in the first round of the playoffs and struggled with his shot in Denver’s seven-game loss to eventual champion Oklahoma City in the Western Conference semifinals.

Porter has averaged 16.2 points in his six NBA seasons.