Nets projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
Brooklyn Nets starting power forward: Cam Johnson
The Nets furnished Cam Johnson with a four-year, $94.5 million contract in free agency. He was the B-side of Brooklyn’s Durant trade return and he’s set up to be a paramount figure in the next half-decade of Nets basketball. The No. 11 pick from the 2019 NBA Draft, Johnson is now 27 years old and smack in the middle of his basketball prime.
For the Nets, it wasn’t a terribly hard decision to bring Johnson back. He fits a player archetype that every team covets. He’s 6-foot-8 with a buttery 3-point shot (40.4 percent), versatile defense, and the ability to beat closeouts off the dribble. Johnson doesn’t offer much self-creation, but he can drive the lane and provide enough outside the 3-point shot to stick — even thrive — in the playoffs.
Johnson was a perennial Sixth Man of the Year candidate with the Suns before the trade. He will get the benefit of starters’ minutes with Brooklyn from here on out. The Nets have every reason to push the limits of Johnson’s skill set. Jacque Vaughn will design countless sets around his versatile shooting stroke and, if Ben Simmons is truly “back,” expect Johnson to be frequently rewarded for his off-ball movement.
While not an elite defender, Johnson can hold his own at the point of attack and he’s always aware within the team context. He gets pegged as the power forward here by virtue of defensive assignments — Simmons is the more traditionally sized “power forward,” but he will handle the ball and he’s better suited to chasing guards on the perimeter than Johnson. Still, think of Johnson more as another wing and less as a true forward.
Primary backup power forward: Dorian Finney-Smith
Not long ago, Dorian Finney-Smith was the backbone of a top-ranked defense in Dallas. A top-ranked defense that propelled the Mavs all the way to the conference finals in 2022. His production and overall impact slipped slightly last season — especially after his move to Brooklyn as part of the Kyrie Irving trade — but Finney-Smith can still exert an enormous influence over the game defensively. Just look at Dallas’ defense post-trade.
At 6-foot-8, Finney-Smith is another switchable cog in Brooklyn’s potpourri of lanky wings. Simmons has the unchallenged status of top perimeter defender when he’s healthy, but Finney-Smith is a proven wing stopper and ravenous help defender who creates a lot of havoc for opposing teams with his activity in passing lanes.
He only shot 33.7 percent from deep last season (and 39.1 percent from the field), so the offense is the primary point of concern. Finney-Smith was easily forgotten for long stretches and he can struggle to generate positive results once he’s chased off the 3-point line. The Nets could still try to start him in place of Dinwiddie or Simmons, but it’s more likely that Finney-Smith transitions into a specialist role off the bench.