Nets’ Cam Johnson facing strange reality without Mikal Bridges as teammate

LAS VEGAS — The Twins have been separated.

Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges have been so close — first in Phoenix and then Brooklyn — that they earned the nickname The Twins.

Johnson has played five seasons in the NBA.

He’s appeared in 283 games, and 38 more in the playoffs.

Never once has he done so without Bridges.

That’s about to change after the Nets traded Bridges to the rival Knicks last month in a move that shocked the league — Johnson included.

“I got an ESPN alert. I probably learned after the trade, I was probably one of the last to know. ESPN alert, that’s how I found out,” said Johnson, who admits it’s going to be weird to suit up without Bridges for the first time since college.

“I guess, because I’ve played every game with him. But he’ll be good; I’ll be good. I’m looking forward to playing against him.

“You’ve just got to understand that this is a business, and teams are gonna do what’s in their best interest, and players will do what’s in their best interest. And our relationship goes beyond basketball. It goes beyond a team. That’s my brother for life, and I wish him the best. That’s all it comes down to — except when he plays us.”

Johnson was attending Brooklyn’s Las Vegas Summer League tilt against the Clippers on Sunday at Thomas & Mack Arena.

Bridges had actually sat courtside for the Nets’ opener two days earlier.

The Bridges trade — primarily for five first-round picks and a pick swap — signaled Brooklyn pivoting from trying to compete to diving headlong into a rebuild.

Johnson is still talking with Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks and new head coach Jordi Fernandez, trying to hash out exactly where he fits in all this.

“Still trying to figure it out,” Johnson said. “Still trying to figure it out.”

Johnson — just one year into a four-year, $94 million deal — is one of the few veterans left, along with Dorian Finney-Smith.

As such, his name has been linked in various trade rumors.

Even though Johnson’s season left something to be desired — 13.4 points on .391 shooting from deep, limited to 58 games due to injury — his length and 3-point range make the forward a valuable commodity.

“I’m on the Brooklyn Nets right now,” Johnson said. “Dorian’s on the Brooklyn Nets right now. [Cam Thomas], [Trendon] Watford, we’re Nets right now, so that’s what we’re focused on is that group. And if something happens, then something happens. But that’s how we keep the main thing the main thing.

“There’s plenty to work on in the meantime, plenty of things to focus on. So I’m having conversations with Jordi and them as if I’m fully 100 percent on the team all the way through. That’s where I want to be right now, and I’m cool with that.”

For Johnson’s part, he insists going through an offseason filled with uncertainty hasn’t weighed on him.

“It doesn’t,” Johnson said. “I just figured I have enough to worry about on my end in trying to just be working on myself, working on my body, working on my game. Just taking that time in the offseason to get my mental right for another season; and then I’ll just let whatever happens, happens.

“I think we have a pretty good group in Brooklyn that we can really start to grow something. We’ve got a lot of talent in the building. Watching these guys in Jalen [Wilson], Noah [Clowney], Dariq [Whitehead], they’re getting better and better every day. I worked out with Wat, CT, so we have pieces. If I’m staying in Brooklyn, then I’m all-in, excited to play, excited to grow this group, and that’s where my head’s at right now.”