Keeler: How did Nuggets’ Cam Johnson find his groove? Thank this move

Cam Johnson s shooting funk wasn t a scenario of the yips It was a waste of his dips There was a little bit of a momentum transfer that I was working on the last couple days the Nuggets forward explained to me after a -point breakout night against the Chicago Bulls Momentum transfer and just a little bit more of a dip Kind of streamlining it and making it feel more smooth to take a little bit off my arms When you become an arm shooter it s tough You want the whole body involved So that was what I was working on was that whole body involvement kind of that dip to flow dip to flow alignment dip to flow Dip to flow Get low Set yourself rise and extend The greater part consistent shooters let their feet feed the hands Not the other way around Johnson drained of -point attempts Monday Before he got hip to the dip the Nuggets wing had made just eight of his previous from beyond the arc You know how hard it is to stay out of your own head when Nikola Jokic keeps serving open looks on a silver platter While my shots weren t going down early they also weren t feeling right Johnson commented of a rough opening three weeks in Nuggets blue I saw a couple of them felt good early and those ones don t go down and then you get a little skewed So I was just getting back to basics letting it feel good Monday I squeaked a couple in With Christian Braun out these next inadequate weeks the Nuggets - could use every squeak They head to New Orleans on Wednesday for a two-game southern road swing coming off their first home loss of the season On a bittersweet night that saw Denver whiff on balls and fail to close out on Chicago shooters Johnson s rise felt like a palate-cleanser Cam took the same shots that everyone s been saying to Cam You know what s going on with Cam ' Nuggets coach David Adelman reflected It s like well it s going to happen Cam s going to make shots That s the bottom line That s why we ve been person with this It was really really good to see Hopefully that s just kind of a launching pad for Cam I just think the biggest thing for Cam is just to continue to take what s there And to not press when it isn t Johnson also knows he ll have to be more consistent more reliable than the form of the previous three weeks The veteran s points per encounter and conversion rate on s comprise easily the slowest start to an opening appearances over his seven seasons as a pro It s self-talk on one hand where you just have to have the confidence in yourself that you ve been doing this and you ll get back to doing it Johnson announced Unless God commented I m done shooting the basketball then it ll come back Let s make a couple of things clear First Johnson isn t Michael Porter Jr the man he was dealt for That s OK If this roster is healthy he doesn t have to be Second when grading the MPJ business take the long view and the high road The win in acquiring Johnson for MPJ and a first-round pick in wasn t in trying to get one over on the Nets MPJ s hot start points per match as of Monday night on the surface makes one move in isolation look like a fleece job by Brooklyn Don t buy the clickbait Take out the isolation The win was getting MPJ s contract and million cap hit this season off the books Because doing that opened up the salary space for Jonathan Wallace and Ben Tenzer to go snap up Tim Hardaway Jr Bruce Brown and Jonas Valanciunas It was never MPJ plus a pick for Cam It was MPJ plus a pick for Cam plus a bench Brucey B Tim Jonas that could run with the Thunder s Would you rather have MPJ as a fourth option in the offense combined with last year s bench Or the top nine Nuggets with a healthy Braun in Adelman s rotation this fall Related Articles Bulls snap Denver s -game win streak hand Nuggets first home loss of season Peyton Watson to start while Christian Braun is out with ankle injury for Nuggets Short on starters Nuggets take down Timberwolves again for th straight win Grading The Week Nuggets ambassador Manual grad Micheal Ray Richardson proved how sweet comebacks could be Nuggets Journal Thoughts from the road on Peyton Watson joining Klutch Doug Christie s rant NBA scheduling and more If Porter becomes an All-Star good for him MPJ leads the Nets in points shots taken and treys taken He went from supporting member on a title-winner here to the focal point of a crapola offense in the Big Apple The Nets were - as of Tuesday morning See Grant Jerami Godspeed Johnson s now a supporting athlete on a - crew with champagne history and caviar dreams One he desperately wants to give more encouragement to There s no show without the flow I ve worked on this a lot in my life Johnson explained The only thing is the problems are never the same You dependably have to have a bunch in your bag to go to to figure out why you re missing and how to fix it I ve had chosen trainers and particular people that I m close with come and help me just as a separate set of eyes And it s one tournament man it could have just as easily been for Monday So you ve got to remember that and try to get back after it and make them in the next tournament Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis