Meet ‘The Twins’: New Nets Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson expected Kevin Durant trade to happen

Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson held their introductory press conference just minutes after being named starters for the Nets’ matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. The two players were the highlight of the deal, along with the four first-round picks Brooklyn pried from the Phoenix Suns in the move that sent superstar forward Kevin Durant out West.

Durant’s desire to go to Phoenix after back-to-back failed championship pursuits in Brooklyn was the team’s worst-kept secret. It was his top preferred trade destination, as The Daily News reported, when he demanded a trade over the summer.

And the worst-kept secret in Phoenix was on the other end of the coin: If Durant was, indeed, headed to the Suns, it more than likely meant Bridges and Johnson were on the first plane out.

“We kinda knew,” Bridges said on Saturday. “There were a lot of jokes, especially in the summer when KD wanted to come here, and we knew the pieces and who might be the ones that were gonna go.

“And us two were the main two. We always joked around and said at least we got us. At least we got us.”

There are no hard feelings between Bridges, Johnson and the Suns, and both appear eager for their fresh start on the East Coast. Bridges is familiar with the area: He is from Philadelphia, played college ball at Villanova and has friends from school who moved to Brooklyn after graduation. Johnson is from Moon Township, Pa., and split his college years between Pittsburgh and North Carolina.

Both were included in what might be the biggest trade deadline deal in the history of the sport. Both understand why the Suns made the move.

“I a-hundred-percent get it, and that’s just how it is,” Bridges said. “I’d rather say I’d really be happy I got traded for KD than probably like, somebody else who I didn’t think would be good, or something like that. So, just being a realist at the end of the day.

“Obviously I’ll miss everybody there, miss my home, miss all my friends that’s back there. But, I mean, I get it, you’re getting Kevin Durant, bro. Maybe I’ll probably make that trade too.”

Neither Bridges nor Johnson could help themselves from laughing. It’s funny the way it all played out.

The Suns had just left Brooklyn after defeating the Nets, 116-112, and were in Atlanta preparing for a matchup against the Hawks when the dominos started to fall.

Johnson was getting late-night treatment done to prepare the next day’s game. Bridges was “chillin on [his] iPad” before he got a call.

The call was from his ex-teammate Damion Lee, who was visibly upset while breaking the news to Bridges.

“He was like, ‘Bro, I’m sorry,’” Bridges recalled. “I was so confused. I’m like, ‘What you talking about?’

“He said, ‘You just got traded for KD.’”

Bridges couldn’t believe it. He checked Twitter for confirmation. Then he tweeted “OMYGOD” and called his agent. Shortly after, he called Johnson. He went to Johnson’s room. The rest of the team followed.

“That was like a little last supper type of vibes,” Bridges said.

In truth, the two wings knew this day would come. They knew Mat Ishbia, who recently completed the purchase of the Phoenix Suns, would want to make a splash to start his ownership with a bang. And they saw the writing on the wall when Durant said the Suns were his preferred trade destination over the summer.

“Obviously we had known that these rumors had been flying around for a handful of months now, but to see it actually executed, at that time, there’s still a little bit of shock value to it,” Johnson said. “But quickly I feel like we adjusted, got here, got as settled as we could be, and got ready for tonight.”

“We’ve had plenty of time to talk about it really. …. We’ve had a lot of time to wrap our mind around the possibility.”

In the end, they still have each other.

The Suns drafted Bridges and Johnson in consecutive drafts, and Johnson didn’t play in Summer League his rookie year. The two spent that summer working out together in Las Vegas.

“From that point on, we kind of did everything together,” Johnson said. “We worked out together, we chilled off the court together, we ate, we watched film together.”

A couple of months into that season, their old teammate, Suns center Deandre Ayton, gave them a nickname.

The Twins.

“And three-and-a-half years later, we’re stuck with it,” Johnson said.

It’s been a tumultuous last 72 hours for the newest pair of Nets, but they are key pieces in what the front office hopes is a quick retool around a group of young players who will scrap, claw and fight every minute they’re on the floor.

Call it the unpredictable business of basketball.

“It happened, and still to this day, it’s like, at least I got my twin with me,” Bridges said. “That’s how it goes.”