The Spurs entering the 2020-2021 NBA season had a lot of questions up in the air about how they would play as a unit and if they would end up in another playoff run, without having their “Superstar” to run the game around.
The end of the bubble saw the Spurs not in the playoffs last season, a first time in many years that a Spurs team under Coach Gregg Popovich has been unable to get into the playoffs. He has seen a lot of playoff success over the years with the “Big 3” of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker.
The Spurs have a young core but led by some older veterans such as DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, and the wildcard off the bench that is Patrick “Patty” Mills. Dejounte Murray has been a bright spot at the guard position for the team but another young player is beginning to come into his own for the franchise.
Keldon Johnson was the 29th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft as a 6’5” small forward from Kentucky, who many had surprisingly going higher than he ended up. On several mock drafts he was predicted to go somewhere around the 14th pick so he was able to fall to the Spurs, which seems to be paying off so far. The pro comparison for him according to NBADraft.net was Corey Maggette.
Johnson is a very strong forward for someone who is only 6’5” as one of the last small forwards the Spurs had was the Superstar Kawhi Leonard. Johnson is a superb finisher around the basket that is helped by his quick first step that allows him to get to the basket. Another strength for Johnson is he performs well from beyond the arc, through 18 games this season he is averaging 34.0% from the 3 point line, which is effective considering he only shoots 2.9 three pointers per game.
An aspect of Johnson’s game that does not appear on the stat sheet very often is his ability to guard his matchup the full length of the court on defense. Johnson is extremely athletic and seems to be a natural leader on the court with his intangibles. There are some weaknesses to Johnson’s game in the way that he is a poor free throw shooter currently averaging only 77.8% from the charity stripe this season. Also, as beneficial as his athleticism can be it sometimes is not very controlled and can cause him to miss open layups around the rim and he does not generate a lot of turnovers despite being a strong defender.
Johnson can only continue to develop though as he is seeing ample playing time under Popovich currently averaging 31.2 MPG and has started all 18 games for the Spurs so far, according to Basketball Reference. The amount of time he does sometimes highlight his weaknesses as only a second year player, but this time will also help to continue exposing him to elite level NBA competition and allow him to better his game overall.
The second year forward is currently averaging 14.4 points, and 7.7 rebounds per game which will be helpful in keeping the ball in the hands of the Spurs and putting up a lot of points on the board. One thing Johnson can also continue to develop is his passing ability he averages 2.2 assists per game which is manageable put the Spurs have always been a team of ball movement and continuing to help as a facilitator is something he is beginning to improve in as well.
Johnson’s athleticism and ability to be a floor leader was on full display on their comeback win versus the Spurs as he was able to force Celtics guard Jaylen Brown into tough mid-range jumpers as well as crashing the boards on the defensive and offensive end.
The name of the game right now for Johnson has to be consistency and managing his athleticism. Hopefully over the course of the season we will be able to see more of Johnson and he can continue to prove why he was a smart choice for the Spurs and potentially develop into an All-star that has not been filled since Kawhi.