The Nets, with the draft completed, will move on to free agency. Priority No. 1 is keeping Cam Johnson, and his pal Mikal Bridges is pushing for them to do exactly that.
The Nets can start talking with Johnson in a week. Because Johnson is restricted free agent, the Nets can match any offer sheet he signs with another team. But Bridges — who is so close with Johnson that they earned the nickname ‘The Twins’ while playing together in Phoenix — has made it clear that he wants his longtime running mate to stay put in Brooklyn.
“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Bridges told The Post. “I mean, I just know a lot of people probably want him on different teams. I just tell him, I’ll just be like ‘I know money and this and that, but just know where I want you. And you can’t leave your Twin!’
“But he knows. He knows that I never want him to go.And I hope that he stays and they offer him a really good deal. Get my boy paid and go from there.”
Johnson, who arrived along with Bridges in the Kevin Durant trade, seems all but assured of getting paid, and paid well. The only questions are how big an offer sheet will he command? And will the Nets have the stomach to match it?
The Nets, who can’t officially talk to Johnson until 6 p.m. on June 30, hope to get him re-signed before he fields an offer sheet from another team. But there are no guarantees.
“I don’t have a crystal ball. I don’t know,” general manager Sean Marks said Thursday at the NBA draft. “I think it’s one of those things that maybe … we should expect the unexpected. Things happen all the time in this. We’ll be prepared for that.
“Cam knows how we feel about him. We hope he’s a Net and so we’ll just have to sort of play it all out. … I think we’ve got a nice young group and he can see how this group has a chance to do something special here and do something special in Brooklyn.”
Since he joined the Nets in February, Johnson averaged 16.6 points, 4.8 boards, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals in 25 regular-season games, all on pace for career-highs. He was even better in the playoff loss to the 76ers, boosting his numbers to 18.5 points and 5.8 boards on .429 shooting from deep.
Shortly after his arrival, league sources told The Post he could expect to land a four-year, $80 million offer sheet. His performances may have boosted his price into the four-year, $90 million area his pal Bridges got.
The Nets re-signed Nic Claxton last summer before he ever got into the free-agency process, and will look to do the same with Johnson. The 27-year-old forward maintained that the chance to keep playing alongside Bridges — rapidly becoming the Nets’ star — will play a role in his decision.
“Yeah I’d say so. That’s my twin. I haven’t played an NBA game without him, literally, the guy I came into the league alongside of and somebody I’ve grown close to. I value those people in my life and he’s a good teammate,” Johnson said. “So the continued opportunity to play with him is going to be very important.”
Johnson was in Melbourne last week, both taking in an Australian Rules football game and getting in some golf (wearing Nets gear no less).
And during a June 20 appearance on the Ball Magnets podcast, his comments about buying or renting in Brooklyn could be telling. At least Nets fans hope they are.
“I found this apartment. I had it for a certain short-term lease, and at the conclusion of free agency, I’d reevaluate and explore neighborhoods and figure out which area of Brooklyn I’d like to live in,” said Johnson. “Because there’s a lot of cool little neighborhoods, cool little pockets. That should be a fun experience.”
