PHOENIX — Kam Johnson is better than most of us. The Phoenix Suns Wing does not have Twitter.
But that doesn’t stop him from hearing his name in trade rumors. He said just that during the CJ23 Invitational 3-on-3 tournament at Ability 360 in Phoenix.
In fact, Johnson The University of North Carolina basketball team and his brother Puff earlier this month when he was first informed about such things.
“I’m like, ‘Hey, don’t throw my name out there, let me chill with my little brother for a minute,'” he said Saturday.
Trade rumors have several different origins. What Johnson is hearing this summer apparently ties directly to Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant, who reportedly asked for a trade on the morning of free agency.
Phoenix was reported as Durant’s top-priority destination, after which the Suns began figuring out how to acquire him, and that’s when Johnson’s name joins the mix.
Johnson reiterated several times Saturday that he understands the league is a business. A familiar figure, it was an eye-opening moment in Cam Johnson’s rookie year.
Johnson sighed, pointing to another example of a 10-day contract that started building a bond with a player that suddenly disappeared.
Johnson, 26, said the Suns would do what’s best for them and understands that part of the whole equation.
As for himself, Johnson is using the longer offseason in new ways. Johnson has played most of NBA basketball in the pandemic-affected season, when his schedule was crammed into a much shorter offseason.
During this time, the league’s normal offseason schedule, Johnson has expanded his work, using the extra time to lift heavier weights and be very focused on certain parts of the game. was trained in ball handling and spent a full hour doing footwork in one particular movement.
“I’m just enjoying that part of the offseason,” Johnson said. “Lifting, something you can’t do much during the season.”
When asked how he was approaching a more spaced out schedule, Johnson referred to talk from outside the Suns needing more balls beyond Devin Booker and Chris Paul. Of course, this came up when discussing the Suns’ involvement in Durant’s sweepstakes and what went wrong at the end of the season.
“I hear everyone. I’m not going to act like I don’t hear everything,” Johnson said.[I’m working] Be dependable in the late game. A player you can rely on as an additional ball-dominant player. As my career progressed, I really tried to make my mark.
“Trust me. I was a ball-dominant player for the first 18 or 19 years of my life, and then I thought, ‘I’m going to be good at other things.’ And now it’s like, “OK, let’s go back to what we were doing in high school.” It’s kind of like working on something like that. The thing is, all Hoopers know this. If you don’t do something for a while, you start to lose it. When I start doing it again, it’s like, ‘Oh, I got this. ”
So is it frustrating to hear praise for how good your role is and criticism that you need to do more?
“I don’t think it irritates me,” Johnson said. “I’m a basketball player and I know the game very well. If someone says something, I step out of myself and look at it from their point of view and say, ‘OK, what you’re saying.’ You can say, “I know.”
“But I know what I can do. I don’t think everyone in the world knows what I am capable of. And wherever that puts me, at the end of the day I know I’ve done everything I can to get there.
Uncertainty about Johnson’s future in Phoenix outweighs the possibility of a Durant trade this summer.
He is eligible for a contract extension for the same period last year when teammate Michal Bridges extended his contract and teammate Deandre Ayton did not.
Johnson offered his thoughts on where those negotiations might be, with deadlines still in place in October.
“We’re in a good place,” Johnson said. The team will do their best for them, and the players will do their best for them. If I can achieve something, I love it.”
How things like trade rumors make the league more interesting, even though he’s a complete expert on the subject, to Johnson’s talk about his remarkable and rare ability to see other perspectives. He admitted that he was looking at what to do.
“The NBA is an interesting league. And we’re having a fun offseason right now. So grab some popcorn and you never know what’s going to happen,” Johnson said with a smile. I can’t.”
