Spurs already being linked to sharpshooter who would help them contend

The meteoric rise of Victor Wembanyama has mandated the San Antonio Spurs take a more aggressive approach to fleshing out the roster around him without mortgaging too much of the long-term vision. That balancing act led them to pounce on De’Aaron Fox ahead of this past February’s trade deadline. Could Cam Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets be next?

As it turns out, if the Spurs had their way, Johnson may already be in San Antonio.

While speaking with YES Network’s Meghan Triplett, Senior NBA Insider at HoopsHype Michael Scotto name-dropped the Spurs as one of the teams who showed interest in the now-29-year-old sharpshooter.

“Cam Johnson had a lot of interest at the trade deadline,” says Scotto. “Some other teams that I don’t think were mentioned, but I had heard also checked in were the San Antonio Spurs, looking for some shooting around Wembanyama.”

San Antonio will need to get in line if its interest in Johnson persists. Scotto adds that he will “draw some significant interest this summer” as the trade market develops and that Brooklyn also knows it doesn’t have to move him, even as it navigates the early stages of a rebuild.

Granted, the Spurs don’t have to concern themselves with rival interest. They remain flush with assets and flexibility, even after the Fox trade. Can Johnson help nudge them in the direction of title contention, as early as next season? That’s the question.

Cam Johnson is a perfect offensive fit in San Antonio

Calling Johnson an ideal fit in San Antonio is akin to looking at Victor Wembyanama and yelling “He’s tall.” It’s just a matter of fact. 

Johnson’s skill set is universally scalable. He has some on-ball chops, particularly when he gets a head of steam, but doesn’t need the rock to make an impact. Almost 40 percent of his shot attempts this season have come as catch-and-fire threes—looks that he’s downing at a clip north of 40 percent. 

Propping up this efficiency within a Nets offense that has spent much of the season without bankable initiation is a big deal. Johnson ranks in the 16th percentile of catch-and-shoot shot quality, and the 17th percentile of overall three-point shot quality, according to BBall-Index.

Adding someone of this caliber—who is also an exceptional off-ball mover—would work wonders for San Antonio’s offense. It may even be a necessity as they try to configure the backcourt around Fox and Stephon Castle, neither of whom is an elite spacer.

Fox has turned in more promising seasons from deep, but he hit just 34 percent of his wide-open triples this year before shutting it down, and defenses have no qualms about helping off him. Castle’s struggles are even more pronounced. He is canning under 32 percent of his wide-open treys, and holds minimal value as a standstill spacer. 

Wemby and Johnson are a frontcourt match made in outer space

Bringing in Johnson would also supercharge San Antonio’s usage of a healthy Wembanyama. He has already emerged as the team’s most valuable outside marksman, especially when you consider the position he plays. But there is bandwidth to expand his work as a screener and roller and capitalize on his size, fluidity, and even downhill passing. 

Surrounding him with more snipers is pivotal to making that work. The players around Wemby this year ranked in the 34th percentile of off-ball gravity. That speaks to part of why the 21-year-old has never seen more than 15 percent of his offensive possessions in the NBA come as the roller.

Johnson’s off-ball pull—he is in the 99th percentile of gravity—opens up the runway to streamline more of Wemby’s offense. Everything San Antonio’s superstar does will feature more breathing room, from his rolls and drives to his transition and paint touches. Johnson does not have to render Jeremy Sochan obsolete, either. He just provides a different kind of offensive depth for San Antonio to plumb.

The same goes for Fox and Castle and, potentially, Chris Paul (if he comes back). They will have more room to attack coming around screens if Johnson’s elite outside touch and the threat of his movement are stretching defenses.

 The Spurs should definitely be in on the Cam Johnson sweepstakes

Many will gravitate toward bigger names as preferred Spurs targets. There is a chance they enter the Kevin Durant sweepstakes this summer. That makes some sense…depending on the opportunity cost. No team should be forking over too much of its future for a superstar turning 37 this September, not even if that superstar borders on ageless. 

Harping on bigger names also presupposes the Spurs need that type of infusion. They don’t. Their offensive efficiency was barely league average with Wemby on the floor, but his partnership with Fox is just 120 minutes old, Castle should continue to get better, and the team may add two lottery picks in this year’s draft to the arsenal: its own, and Atlanta’s selection.

Without more information on the Fox-Castle-Wemby dynamic, specifically, the Spurs shouldn’t default to more nuclear scenarios. Johnson offers a nice middle ground. It will cost assets to get him, but probably not more than the equivalent of two first-round picks. San Antonio still has those to spare, particularly if one of them is the less favorable of this June’s two selections. 

Matching Johnson’s incoming money is much simpler than going the star route once again, too. San Antonio has the room beneath the luxury tax to send out just $13.1 million to reel in Johnson’s $20.6 million salary. It will push to send out more, of course, to preserve mid-level spending. But the numbers are modest enough that the Spurs will not have to dangle anyone they consider a potential mainstay. 

For where San Antonio is at in its competitive cycle, prospective trade targets do not get much more ideal than Johnson.

Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.