What Is Cam Johnson’s Role?
When a team trades a player for one at the same position, they’re often perceived to be their direct replacement. That belief is strengthened if those players have similar skills. Therefore, it’s natural for Nuggets fans to look at Cam Johnson as their new Michael Porter Jr., so to speak.
However, those who have conflated Johnson’s quick trigger with him being trigger-happy might be sorely disappointed. In the Nuggets preseason opener, Johnson played 15 minutes and took just three attempts, though two of those were 3-pointers. He finished the game with two points. Ironically, Porter was also debuting with his new team (the Brooklyn Nets) that night. In 17 minutes, Porter took nine attempts (including five threes), recording 13 points.
While it’s worth noting that Johnson is a connective piece for the Nuggets and Porter’s a primary scorer, the contrast between their performances that night actually reflects their creeds. Porter’s so confident in his abilities that he was prone to feeling underutilized offensively. Johnson is basically content to be a good soldier, more concerned about playing his role than getting his points up.
That isn’t to say Johnson will be happy to average two points and three shot attempts for an entire season. However, he’s much more likely to try to make himself fit in, which could lead to less scoring from the small forward position than the Nuggets have grown accustomed to.
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