With the NBA draft completed Thursday night, the Nets will wake up Friday morning already moving on to free agency.
Priority No. 1 is keeping Cam Johnson, and pal Mikal Bridges is pushing for Brooklyn to do exactly that.
The Nets can start talking with Johnson in a week and, with Johnson a restricted free agent, 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 abundantly 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 alongside 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 does he command?
And will Brooklyn have the stomach to match it?
Since joining 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 of which would have been on pace for career-highs.
Auspiciously, he was even better in the playoff loss to Philadelphia, 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.
Brooklyn can’t officially talk to Johnson until 6 p.m. on June 30, but GM Sean Marks has already stated that bringing him back is a top priority.
“Cam knows how we feel,” Marks said. “We hope he’s back. … But he’s going to have decisions to make. So, at the right time, we will certainly be having those discussions with him and his agent, and we hope that Cam will be back.”
Brooklyn managed to re-sign Nic Claxton last summer before he ever got into the free-agency process, and will hope to do the same with Johnson.
For his part, 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.”