<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-admits-shaken-up-injury-scare');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs’ Keldon Johnson admits to being ‘shaken up’ by injury scare');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Keldon-Johnson-admits-to-being-shaken-up-by-injury-scare.jpg"></figure><h1>Spurs’ Keldon Johnson admits to being ‘shaken up’ by injury scare</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-19T18:26:44-08:00">December 19th, 6:26pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-19T18:26:44-08:00">December 19th, 6:26pm</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Though Keldon Johnson was out for ten days with a left calf strain, he missed just two games in that time frame. Fortunately for Johnson, the San Antonio Spurs schedule featured only a pair of contests during that span. It’s especially comforting for Johnson considering his time out came as a result of a dreaded non-contact injury.</p><p>“For sure, I was definitely a little shaken up, obviously,” the longest tenured Spur said.</p><p>Johnson left the team’s December 8th game vs. the New Orleans Pelicans with less than seven and a half minutes remaining in the second quarter. He was standing near the corner on a Spurs possession when he felt enough discomfort in his calf to not only exit the game but head to the locker room as well. He didn’t return that night.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Keldon Johnson (left calf) left the Spurs-Pelicans game and did not return after this strange injury. There has been no official update on his status. Here are the last few moments of him on the court. Watch. 👀<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PorVida?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PorVida</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pelicans?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pelicans</a> <a href="https://t.co/buSOCJ5GJV">pic.twitter.com/buSOCJ5GJV</a></p><p>— SpursRΞPORT (@SpursReporter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpursReporter/status/1866171489558680068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p> </p><p>After the game, acting head coach Mitch Johnson didn’t know full details but downplayed the severity, adding that the trainers initially thought it was a cramp before they looked more closely at his calf.</p><p>“Out of the situation, got the best possibility that could’ve happened,” the head coach admitted as Johnson prepares to return. “I’m glad at that, I’m blessed. I’m just ready to be back with my teammates on the court.”</p><h2>Keldon Johnson expected back for the Spurs</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/New-Orleans-Pelicans-forward-Herbert-Jones-2-dribbles-against-San-Antonio-Spurs-forward-Keldon-Johnson-0.jpg"><figcaption>Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Spurs’ recent injury report suggests Johnson will play the next time the Silver and Black take the court.</p><p>“I’m feeling good. Stacking the days, I had another great day today,” Johnson said. “The game plan: get some rest; go to the arena, get there pretty early; get some treatment and stuff; get warmed up; and then make a decision from there.”</p><p>A first round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Johnson is now in his sixth season in San Antonio. He’s the only Spurs player who was with the team before the COVID-19 pandemic. He averaged a career high 22 points per game in 2022-2023. This season, while playing in 23 of the team’s 26 games, he’s scoring 12.7 per contest.</p><p>“I’m glad it worked out how it worked out because, obviously, I didn’t want to miss too many games. It’s hard for me not playing, I feel like I’m a big part of the team.”</p><p>The coaching staff <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-opens-up-tough-sacrifice-2023-24-season">moved Johnson from a starter to the second unit</a> during last season. He finished the year scoring 15.7 per contest. It’s a role that’s continued this season <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-chris-paul-signing-forces-keldon-johnson-jersey-number-change">as the Spurs added Chris Paul</a>, Harrison Barnes and the number four overall pick this past June, Stephon Castle.</p><p>“Being back has been my main priority,” Johnson said. “I’ve been locked in, I’ve been trying to do everything I can to make sure I optimize my time when I’m not with the team.”</p><p>Easily the Spurs most vocal and rambunctious player, Johnson is fifth on the team in scoring and third in rebounding.</p><p>“I’m back and I’m in a good position right now. Hopefully, it’ll carry over.”</p><p>The Spurs hope so as well.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs’ Keldon Johnson admits to being ‘shaken up’ by injury scare

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/thunder-news-mark-daigneault-credits-keldon-johnson-spurs-collapse');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mark Daigneault credits Keldon Johnson, Spurs for Thunder collapse');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Thunder-news-Mark-Daigneault-credits-Keldon-Johnson-Spurs-for-OKC-collapse.jpg"></figure><h1>Mark Daigneault credits Keldon Johnson, Spurs for Thunder collapse</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-20T12:20:00-08:00">November 20th, 12:20pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-20T12:20:00-08:00">November 20th, 12:20pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Before Oklahoma City Thunder forward <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-news-jalen-williams-plays-blame-game-loss-spurs-without-victor-wembanyama">Jalen Williams played the blame game following Tuesday’s loss</a>, head coach Mark Daigneault credited Keldon Johnson and the San Antonio Spurs. Without their star, Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs outscored the Thunder 33-9, including a 16-0 run from the end of the second quarter into the second half, punctuated by Johnson’s 22 first-half points.</p><p>After the game, Daigneault zeroed in on what <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT6x3bB_wOQ&amp;t=298s" rel="noopener">went wrong</a> against the Spurs.</p><p>“I just thought on both ends of the floor we didn’t play, clearly, good enough to win. Give San Antonio credit. I thought they played really hard from the jump,” Daigneaulg said. “[They]played with great effort. Mitch is doing a great job. They played with a lot of confidence from the beginning of the game. They went and earned that game. They deserved to win.”</p><p>Spurs assistant coach Mitchell Johnson, filling in for head coach Gregg Popovich amid a medical leave of absence, guided San Antonio from its first and only double-digit deficit in the second quarter. The Thunder, ahead 48-38 in the second quarter, were on the wrong end of a 16-0 run that stretched into the third quarter and eventually gave the Spurs a 21-point lead (98-77) with 10:05 left in the fourth quarter.</p><h2><b>Jalen Williams, Thunder fourth-quarter rally falls short vs Spurs</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Thunder-forward-Jalen-Williams_43d817.jpg"><figcaption>Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>From a 21-point deficit, Mark Daigneault, Jalen Williams, and the Thunder played catch-up before falling six points short against the Spurs toward the end of the final frame. With <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-news-get-tough-alex-caruso-injury-update-mavs-game">Thunder’s All-Defensive First Team guard Alex Caruso</a> back, Oklahoma City rallied defensive stops while Williams scored 11 of his 27 points in the final ten minutes of regulation. Still, it wasn’t enough to overcome Keldon Johnson’s first-half play and the Spurs’ collective effort.</p><p>After the game, Daigneault talked about Johnson’s impact.</p><p>“I think he got some confidence going in the first half. I thought we had control of the game. We were up by like ten, and then they got some confidence going and rhythm going,” Daigneault added. “They had us on our heels. He was in the middle of all that. He got some clean looks early to fall. And then, his confidence lifted as he finished the first half. I thought we did a decent job on him in the second half.</p><p>“That’s when the game started to get away from us a little bit, during that stretch in the second quarter, and he had everything to do with that,” Daigneault concluded.</p><p>On the second night of a back-to-back, the Thunder will host the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mark Daigneault credits Keldon Johnson, Spurs for Thunder collapse

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-posterizes-shai-gilgeous-alexander-in-kentucky-on-kentucky-basketball-crime');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs’ Keldon Johnson posterizes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Kentucky-on-Kentucky basketball crime');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Keldon-Johnson-posterizes-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-in-Kentucky-on-Kentucky-basketball-crime.jpg"></figure><h1>Spurs’ Keldon Johnson posterizes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Kentucky-on-Kentucky basketball crime</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-19T20:30:34-08:00">November 19th, 8:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-19T20:49:19-08:00">November 19th, 8:49pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/is-spurs-victor-wembanyama-playing-vs-thunder-latest-nba-cup-injury-update">Victor Wembanyama out for a second consecutive game</a> due to a knee injury, the San Antonio Spurs weren’t expected to put up much of a fight against the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder in their Tuesday night NBA Cup tussle. Devin Vassell was also out, which would make life even more difficult for the Spurs. But clearly, no one told Keldon Johnson that they were just supposed to roll over for the Thunder.</p><p>Johnson, who plays with such physicality and ferocity, had one of the most incredible sequences of the season thus far for the Spurs late in the second quarter of their contest against the Thunder. He received the ball on the left wing and shook Aaron Wiggins off his shoes with a quick jab step, even dropping the Thunder defender to the floor. But he wasn’t done there. Johnson took it up strong at the rim, and with Chet Holmgren out for a few months, OKC does not have a true rim protector — with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ending up <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1859078914263421073" rel="noopener">being the casualty of a nasty poster jam</a>.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">This replay of Keldon Johnson's ankle breaker and poster is TOUGH 😮‍💨 <a href="https://t.co/E0pka37gCh">pic.twitter.com/E0pka37gCh</a> <a href="https://t.co/6veXqSUGRf">https://t.co/6veXqSUGRf</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1859078914263421073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>With two of the Spurs’ primary scoring options on the mend, Johnson was going to have to step up if they were to have a shot at an upset win against the Thunder. He has been rather inconsistent to start the 2024-25 season, and his stock has been falling gradually the more he has been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-opens-up-tough-sacrifice-2023-24-season">entrenched in his bench role</a>. But Johnson has shown in the past that he can be a source of an explosive brand of offense for the Spurs, and Gilgeous-Alexander learned that firsthand tonight.</p><p>This jam may have meant a little something extra; both Johnson and Gilgeous-Alexander are Kentucky one-and-done alums, and perhaps somewhere, John Calipari is beaming with pride.</p><h2><b>Spurs on track to pull off major upset vs. Thunder</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Keldon-Johnson.jpg"></figure><p>At the time of writing, the Spurs are leading the Thunder by double-digits in the fourth quarter. OKC is a young and energetic team that can pull off a comeback at any time, so Johnson and company will have to be very careful and continue to execute to prevent letting a winnable game slip from their fingertips.</p><p>As the Spurs would have it, Keldon Johnson is currently their leading scorer despite coming off the bench, having tallied 22 points on an efficient 7-14 shooting at the time of writing. Johnson has made six triples, and his red-hot shooting has been contagious. Currently, the Spurs have 16 total threes as a team, with Chris Paul, Harrison Barnes, and Julian Champagnie nailing multiple threes of their own.</p><p>The Spurs will need to win this game if they were to keep their hopes of making it to the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup alive. Their first game in the competition resulted in a heartbreaking 120-115 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, but winning by double figures over the Thunder should improve their point differential to a point where they could conceivably make the quarterfinals as a wild card team.</p><p>Whatever the case ends up being, this performance from the Spurs is something that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-gregg-popovich-return-timeline-unclear-mild-stroke">recovering head coach Gregg Popovich</a> can be proud of.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs’ Keldon Johnson posterizes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Kentucky-on-Kentucky basketball crime

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-news-chris-paul-signing-forces-keldon-johnson-jersey-number-change');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs’ Chris Paul signing forces Keldon Johnson jersey number change');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Spurs-news-Chris-Paul-signing-forces-Keldon-Johnson-jersey-number-change.jpg"></figure><h1>Spurs’ Chris Paul signing forces Keldon Johnson jersey number change</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-05T07:08:12-07:00">September 5th, 7:08am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-05T07:08:12-07:00">September 5th, 7:08am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Being a respected veteran across the association has its perks. For Chris Paul, who has cultivated his brand of “CP3” quite carefully throughout the course of his entire career, there is almost a need for him to be able to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-russell-westbrook-inspiration-jersey-number-change">get that jersey number</a>, regardless of which team he plays for. After signing with the San Antonio Spurs, though, Paul would have to ask Keldon Johnson, the owner of the jersey number “3”, to give way.</p><p>This is exactly what Johnson did, as he gave his new teammate his longtime jersey number with the Spurs. Now, the 24-year-old forward will be <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_gYhquRQl-/" rel="noopener">wearing the jersey number “0”</a>, as revealed on his official Instagram account.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_gYhquRQl-/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading"><div style="padding: 16px;"><p> </p><div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div><div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div><div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"><div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 24px;"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div><p> </p><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_gYhquRQl-/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" rel="noopener" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Keldon Johnson (@keldonjohnson)</a></p></div></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>This was the same jersey number that Johnson wore when the Spurs sent him down to their G-League affiliate in Austin back in his rookie 2019-20 campaign. For what it’s worth, Johnson played well for Austin and foreshadowed the level of scorer he would become in the NBA eventually, averaging 20.3 points per game on 53.1 percent shooting from the field in 31 games while donning the number “0”.</p><p>Keldon Johnson received flowers from his Spurs teammates for his kind gesture, and they look forward to seeing what’s next in his career.</p><p>“New Era we locked in 0🖤,” Devin Vassell commented on Johnson’s Instagram post.</p><p>“Yeah 0,” wrote Tre Jones.</p><p>“😈,” expressed Jeremy Sochan.</p><p>“🥷🏽🥷🏽,” added Blake Wesley.</p><p>Meanwhile, Johnson’s gesture to give Chris Paul his jersey number for the Spurs since day one means that Paul will be having the same jersey number that he has always had throughout his NBA career which has already spanned 18 seasons.</p><p>From New Orleans to Los Angeles to Houston to Oklahoma City to Phoenix and then to San Francisco, Paul has had the comfort of wearing the number “3” which at least gives him some semblance of stability after going through a ton of transitions, and now, the same is the case as he begins his journey in San Antonio.</p><h2>Can the Spurs take a huge leap in Year 2 of the Victor Wembanyama era?</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Wembanyama-Chris-Paul.jpg"></figure><p>The 2023-24 season wasn’t a disaster for the Spurs in any capacity. Sure, it’s not exactly a promising sign that they won just 22 games last season despite adding one of the best defenders in the league in transcendent talent Victor Wembanyama. But it showed the areas of the ball where they needed a lot of work in, and it looks as though they’ve <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/reasons-why-spurs-chris-paul-deal-massive-steal">managed to fill those gaps</a> this offseason.</p><p>For starters, the point guard situation last season was a mess. Jeremy Sochan showed that he is not a natural floor general, while Tre Jones, as good and willing of a playmaker as he is, leaves a lot to be desired on offense. Moreover, the Spurs’ wing depth last season wasn’t great, as they had to rely on Julian Champagnie to start at the three.</p><p>They rectified those situations this offseason by signing Chris Paul and acquiring Harrison Barnes in a salary dump. Paul is not the player he once was, but he makes sure that the offensive execution is on point. Meanwhile, Barnes gives the Spurs some size and scoring on the wing, allowing Keldon Johnson to thrive as a spark plug off the bench.</p><p>Leaps from Devin Vassell, Malaki Branham, and Sochan are possible given how young they are, while Stephon Castle could be an impact player from day one thanks to his defense. And with Wembanyama leading the way, these <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-2024-25-season-easier-other-teams">Spurs could make a lot more noise</a> next season than people expect.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs’ Chris Paul signing forces Keldon Johnson jersey number change

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-hear-keldon-johnson-trade-offers-catch');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs will hear Keldon Johnson trade offers, but there’s a catch');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Spurs-will-hear-Keldon-Johnson-trade-offers-but-theres-a-catch.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs will hear Keldon Johnson trade offers, but there’s a catch</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-30T18:56:41-07:00">May 30th, 6:56pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-30T18:56:41-07:00">May 30th, 6:56pm</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the San Antonio Spurs look to improve their roster around generational talent Victor Wembanyama, everything is on the table. That doesn’t mean every player on the team or asset will be part of a trade, but it does mean there is no shortage of options. At the top of that list may be Keldon Johnson.</p><p>With the NBA Draft approaching, Johnson’s name has been one that has come up in trade discussion. While<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-2024-nba-mock-draft-roundup-after-combine"> the Spurs will listen</a> to offers on the table, San Antonio <a href="https://x.com/BrettSiegelNBA/status/1795168091275657251" rel="noopener">isn’t necessarily rushing</a> to trade away Johnson, via Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.</p><p>“Coming out of the NBA Draft Combine, the talk around the league is that the Spurs will be open for business with both of their draft picks,” Siegel reported. “In addition to the team being open to discussing trade ideas with both the fourth and eighth overall picks, the Spurs will be willing to hear offers involving Keldon Johnson.”</p><p>“However, the Spurs still view Johnson as a key building block next to Wembanyama, and have given teams no indication that he is currently on the trade block,” Siegel continued.</p><p>There are several reasons the Spurs, and teams around the NBA, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-opens-up-tough-sacrifice-2023-24-season">view Johnson as</a> a potential trade candidate.</p><h2>Keldon Johnson’s contract</h2><p>Though the former Kentucky Wildcat signed his second contract with the Spurs two years ago, the four year extension was front-loaded. <a href="https://x.com/NBA/status/1719582353780347009">After making $20 million dollars</a> this past season, Johnson is set to make 19 million this coming year. He’s then slated to make $17.5 million in each of the next two seasons.</p><p>In other words, his contract his friendly. Especially for a player who’s coming off averaging 15.7 points per game after scoring 22 PPG and 17 PPG the previous two years. Which leads to another reason why San Antonio may get nibbles regarding Johnson.</p><h2>Johnson’s lasting impact</h2><p>In altering his game for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-victor-wembanyama-headlines-2023-24-nba-all-rookie-teams">Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama</a>, Johnson still ranked third on the team in scoring while giving the second unit a punch. During the season, Hall of Fame head coach Gregg Popovich moved the five-year pro to a reserve role so that offensive production wouldn’t suffer so severely once Wemby, second-leading scorer Devin Vassell, fourth-leading scorer Jeremy Sochan and Johnson left the floor.</p><p>In coming off the bench in 42 of the 69 games he played in 2023-2024, Johnson averaged 5.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists in 29.5 minutes for the season. He shot 34.6% from three-point land and 45.4% from the field. All of his numbers are among or around the middle of the pack in regard to team leaders.</p><h2>Johnson still oozes potential</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Keldon-Johnson.jpg"><figcaption>Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>At 24 years old, Johnson is still young.  At a time when rookies are routinely entering the NBA at 19, he’s no longer very young comparatively – as his time as the longest tenured current Spur would suggest.</p><p>That said, barring anything unexpected, Johnson has the majority of his career in front of him, including a couple of seasons that could be among his most productive. Not bad considering he’s already averaged 22 points per contest.</p><p>Though Wembanyama’s place as their cornerstone may be the only certainty for the Spurs, it’s easy to see why they’d like to hold on to Vassell, who’s continued to increase high scoring averages and is 23-years-old, and 21-year-old Sochan, who’s made back to back Rising Stars games.</p><p>For this reason and more, it stands to reason that should a team in trade talks with the Spurs want a current player in addition to a draft pick, Johnson could be a top option.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs will hear Keldon Johnson trade offers, but there’s a catch

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-opens-up-tough-sacrifice-2023-24-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs’ Keldon Johnson opens up about ‘tough’ sacrifice made in 2023-24 season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Keldon-Johnson-opens-up-about-sacrifice-made-in-2023-24-season.jpg"></figure><h1>Spurs’ Keldon Johnson opens up about ‘tough’ sacrifice made in 2023-24 season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-21T07:37:41-07:00">April 21st, 7:37am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-21T07:43:31-07:00">April 21st, 7:43am</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>He’s only 24 years old and can count his years in the Alamo City on one hand. Yet, Keldon Johnson is the longest-tenured San Antonio Spur and the oldest member of what would be considered their core. He headed into this past season as the Spurs’ leading scorer. He heads into the offseason as a reserve.</p><p>About a third of the way into the 2023-2024 campaign, the fifth-year Spur was moved to the bench for the first time since his rookie season. At the time, coach Gregg Popovich talked about the need for a spark from the second unit. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-keldon-johnson-role-change-provides-blueprint-future-success">Johnson agreed</a>, expressing a sentiment that would almost become a personal rallying cry for the rest of the season. The former Kentucky Wildcat would consistently utter that he’d do “whatever the team needed” or, similarly, would do “what was best for the team.”</p><p>In his last meeting with the media, Johnson’s status as the team’s key sixth man came up one more time. But, perhaps, for the first time, the 2019 first-round pick publicly admitted that a transition out of the starting lineup wasn’t as seamless as he had let on.</p><p>“It’s tough. If I was to say it was OK, you know what I mean, I’d be lying.”</p><p>“It was definitely an adjustment for me, but I roll with the punches and do what my team and my coaches need me to do for us to win,” the Spurs forward added as he wrapped with a familiar refrain.</p><h2><b>Keldon Johnson adapts to new Spurs role</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Spurs-Keldon-Johnson-reacts-to-call.jpg"><figcaption>Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Keldon Johnson actually ended the season on the bench — <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-latest-key-player-possibly-done-season-injury">as in not playing at all</a>. As was the case with most of the best players on the team because of injury. Though KJ wasn’t ruled out for the remainder of the year as Devin Vassell and Jeremy Socham were, he might as well have been. Because of a sprained left foot, his last game came on April 6, a full week before the Spurs’ season ended.</p><p>It was a year that saw his scoring average drop by around seven points per game, getting 15.7 per contest after he led the team with 22 per in 2022-23. Interestingly enough, none of the other stats dipped for the 2019 29th overall pick. In fact, most slightly improved. While his assists per night went from 2.9 to 2.8 and his steals average stayed the same, his rebounding went up from 5.0 to 5.5. As did his shooting, 45.2% to 45.4% from the field and from 32.9% to 34.6% on three-point attempts. He turned the ball over less and, by a fraction, blocked more shots.</p><p>Still, his playing time decreased some.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Talked with Keldon Johnson about the possibility of moving back into the starting line up if Pop makes changes….</p><p>“….I have no idea…if I’m back in the line up, I’ll be prepared…”</p><p>Extended answer⬇️</p><p>More with KJ soon<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Spurs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Spurs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoSpursGo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoSpursGo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PorVida?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PorVida</a> <a href="https://t.co/UKrqaHsFg1">pic.twitter.com/UKrqaHsFg1</a></p><p>— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/HectorLedesmaTV/status/1739896448034934861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“It was definitely tough,” Johnson continued to admit. “It’s hard because it was hard to adjust. It was tough.”</p><p>His 29.5 minutes per contest, down three minutes from the season before, were fourth on the team this past season. His 15 and a half points ranked third.</p><p>“I knew that that was going to be a part of it. I continued to fight, just continued to fight and do whatever my teammates need me to do, my coaches need me to do to put this team in the best situation to be successful.”</p><p>A familiar expression. And, for now, Keldon Johnson’s reality.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs’ Keldon Johnson opens up about ‘tough’ sacrifice made in 2023-24 season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-latest-key-player-possibly-done-season-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs’ Keldon Johnson the latest key player possibly done for season with injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Spurs-news-Keldon-Johnson-the-latest-key-player-possibly-done-for-season-with-injury.jpeg"></figure><h1>Spurs’ Keldon Johnson the latest key player possibly done for season with injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-08T13:36:28-07:00">April 8th, 1:36pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-08T13:36:28-07:00">April 8th, 1:36pm</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Already <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/how-devin-vassell-injury-impacts-spurs-draft-lottery-odds">missing second-leading scorer Devin Vassell</a> and two-time NBA Rising Star Jeremy Sochan for the remainder of the season, the San Antonio Spurs could be without another of their best players for this final week. Keldon Johnson left <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-victor-wembanyamas-historic-rookie-season-continues-never-before-seen-stat-line">Sunday’s 133-126 double overtime loss</a> to the Philadelphia 76ers in the fourth quarter and did not return.</p><p>Gregg Popovich confirmed after the game that his team’s third-leading scorer re-aggravated a left foot injury that had plagued him for the better part of two weeks.</p><p>With just four games left in a season in which the Silver and Black sport one of the NBA’s worst records, the lottery looms for a franchise looking to rebuild around generational talent Victor Wembanyama.</p><h2>Spurs teammates feel for Keldon Johnson</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/San-Antonio-Spurs-forward-Keldon-Johnson.jpeg"><figcaption>Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Sunday’s game was Johnson’s <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/johnske04/gamelog/2024" rel="noopener">first action of the month</a>. Because of a left foot sprain, he missed three contests against the Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, and New Orleans Pelicans. Before that stretch, he didn’t play in a game at the Utah Jazz on March 25.</p><p>“Keldon, he’s a one-of-a-kind player for me, to this team at least. He’s the heart and soul of this team,” Julian Chamagnie said.</p><p>“He brings a lot of energy. Regardless if he’s scoring or not, his presence is definitely felt on both ends of the floor so losing him, it definitely hurt us. We were able to stay in it so credit to the guys who came in and replaced [him] and stepped up. It always hurts to lose somebody, ” the Spurs forward continued.</p><p>Before exiting with 7:28 to go in regulation, Johnson scored 7 points and grabbed 4 rebounds through 24 minutes in a rare start.</p><p>“Definitely sucks. I feel awful for him. He just wants to be out there with us so bad. It’s definitely not an easy one for him, knowing the a competitor he is, how much he loves being around the team, especially on the court with us. It’s definitely a bummer. I feel for him right now,” Tre Jones said.</p><p>“It’s tough,” Champagnie added, “It’s rough. It’s an annoying injury.”</p><p>It’s just nagging,” the second-year Spur continued.</p><p>“He’ll be OK, a whole off-season. Lucky for him, the season’s coming to an end, it’s winding down. So he’ll have the off-season to just rehab and get better and take care of it and be ready for next season.”</p><h2>Johnson bites teammate Julian Champagnie</h2><p>Before leaving the court for perhaps the last time this season, Johnson accidentally bit one of his teammates.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Keldon Johnson celebrated so hard, that he smashed his teeth into Julian Champagnie‘s forehead &amp; he had to go to the locker room to get the bite marks cleaned up 😂💀 <a href="https://t.co/owbQFVSKyl">pic.twitter.com/owbQFVSKyl</a></p><p>— Courtside Buzz (@OfficialNBABuzz) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficialNBABuzz/status/1777133362416599288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“That’s a first for me. I don’t know, man. I think he wanted that three,” Champagnie continued about the celebratory moment following a shot that gave the 19-59 Spurs a lead vs. the postseason-bound 76ers. “So, he kind of got a little mad at me and bit me.”</p><p>“Nah, Anybody who knows Keldon, he’s super energetic. It was totally an accident but he’s going to have to close his mouth around me from now on,” the Spurs starter continued.</p><p>“That was crazy, that was crazy,” Jones added. “Only Keldon would do that, though. Nobody else would do that but Keldon. That’s crazy.”</p><p>“I’ll just stay away from him,” Champagnie jokingly concluded.</p><p>His Spurs teammates hope Johnson isn’t forced to stay away from the court for a while.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs’ Keldon Johnson the latest key player possibly done for season with injury

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-keldon-johnson-hilariously-reveals-he-had-no-interest-in-capturing-wild-bat-at-frost-bank-center');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs’ Keldon Johnson hilariously reveals he had no interest in capturing wild bat at Frost Bank Center');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Spurs_news_Keldon_Johnson_hilariously_reveals_he_had_no_interest_in_capturing_wild_bat_at_Frost_Bank_Center.webp"></figure><h1>Spurs’ Keldon Johnson hilariously reveals he had no interest in capturing wild bat at Frost Bank Center</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-01-28T11:15:34-08:00">January 28th, 11:15am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-01-28T11:15:34-08:00">January 28th, 11:15am</time><address><a>Sonny Giuliano</a>Sonny Giuliano has been covering the NFL, College Football, NBA and College Basketball for well over a decade, but he's never claimed to be an expert ... just a sports fan who cares WAY too much. Follow Sonny on Twitter (or X, whatever Elon's calling it) @SonnyCG for his sports and pop culture takes</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>A few years back on Five Thirty Eight, Chris Herring answered an <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-are-there-so-many-bats-at-spurs-games/" rel="noopener">important and puzzling question</a>… why do the San Antonio Spurs have such difficulty keeping bats out of their home arena? This is what Herring found back in 2019.</p><p>“The AT&amp;T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) is 25 miles southwest of Bracken Cave, which is home to more than 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats, making it the largest summer bat colony in the world. The world’s largest urban bat colony, and home to about 1.5 million bats — is only about 75 miles away. What’s more, it’s logical that bats would fly past the arena, particularly during the winter months. The stadium is almost directly in the bats’ migration path from Central America and Mexico back to Bracken Cave, where maternal colonies fly to have and nurse their newborns.”</p><p>Okay, so we have that answer. And that explains why on a late-January night in San Antonio, another bat flew into the Frost Bank Center, once again causing a delay in the game, this time a contest between the Spurs and the Timberwolves. Now, this leads me to my next question… who in their right mind wants to be the one responsible for handling the removal of a bat during the game, if and when a circumstance like this comes up? Manu Ginobili is retired, and since <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTHtL3NYb4Y" rel="noopener">it was “Bat-Manu”</a> who famously took care of these issues in the past, that leaves the Spurs mascot, Coyote, to handle the job. Just don’t expect Keldon Johnson to do anything about it.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Keldon Johnson when asked if he thought about going after the bat during last night's Spurs-Timberwolves game 😆</p><p>"I'm borderline scared of the dark… That ain't really up my alley… Manu [Ginobili] caught the bat, he had to get some shots. I'm letting you I don't wanna do… <a href="https://t.co/kQO1uy6D0z">https://t.co/kQO1uy6D0z</a> <a href="https://t.co/jbGKA4fxf2">pic.twitter.com/jbGKA4fxf2</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1751651255229780087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>During his media availability Keldon Johnson shared that he’s “borderline scared of the dark,” and I get it, because I’m full-on afraid of birds and bats (and large moths, and a little bit of butterflies, but I digress), so I would’ve done the same thing had I been in his shoes. Johnson finished the game with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Devin Vassell <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-devin-vassells-hyped-reaction-best-win-year-timberwolves">led the Spurs</a> in scoring with 25 points, and Victor Wembanyama chipped in a 23 point, 10 rebound double-double, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-victor-wembanyamas-eye-opening-rudy-gobert-admission-after-shocking-upset-of-timberwolves">21st of his rookie season</a>.</p><p>But you don’t have to look any further than the Coyote in a Batman suit to find your Spurs player of the game.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs’ Keldon Johnson hilariously reveals he had no interest in capturing wild bat at Frost Bank Center

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/pistons-news-detroit-linked-to-keldon-johnson-in-latest-odds-if-spurs-trade-him');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pistons linked to Keldon Johnson in latest odds if Spurs trade him');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/pistons-news-detroit-linked-to-keldon-johnson-in-latest-odds-if-spurs-trade-him.webp"></figure><h1>Pistons linked to Keldon Johnson in latest odds if Spurs trade him</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-01-04T16:39:14-08:00">January 4th, 4:39pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-01-04T16:39:14-08:00">January 4th, 4:39pm</time><address><a>Benedetto Vitale</a>Benedetto Vitale is an avid sports writer who is an expert at covering the NFL, college football, and UFC. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2016 with a film degree but has since dedicated his career to sports writing. Go Titans, go Ducks, and go Kraken!</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Betting</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA trade deadline is approaching and rumors are running rampant. One way to get a good indication of where a player might be traded is the betting odds. With that said, it sounds like the Detroit <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pistons-news-jalen-duren-walker-kessler-piggyback-ride-wild-poster-dunk" rel="noopener">Pistons could be in</a> the running of potentially trading for Keldon Johnson from the San Antonio Spurs.</p><p>That’s right, the Pistons are currently <a href="https://sports.betonline.ag/sportsbook/futures-and-props/nba-specials/specials" rel="noopener">the betting favorites</a> at +200 to land Johnson if the Spurs do decide to deal him away. Some other notable teams on the list are the Orlando Magic (+300), Miami Heat (+400), and Memphis Grizzlies (+600).</p><p>Keldon Johnson is a solid small forward for the Spurs. This season he’s averaging 17.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. That’s definitely something the Pistons would benefit from if Johnson were to be traded to Detroit. So, it’ll be interesting to see if the franchise opts to make a deal with San Antonio or not.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pistons-news-lou-williams-reveals-cade-cunningham-reason-detroit-must-blow-it-up" rel="noopener">The Pistons are currently</a> 3-31 on the season, as they’ve looked like the worst team in the league by a lot. They just snapped their 28-game losing streak recently. But this team clearly needs some help. For that reason, it makes sense why Detroit would be interested in someone like Keldon Johnson.</p><p>With that said, Johnson will be one to monitor leading up to the trade deadline. Plenty of teams around the league would love to have him on their roster. But the Spurs could end up keeping the fifth year veteran. He’s been a nice compliment to Victor Wembanyama, so it’d make sense for San Antonio to keep Johnson on the roster.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pistons linked to Keldon Johnson in latest odds if Spurs trade him

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-news-devin-vassell-keldon-johnson-injury-updates-victor-wembanyama-return-bulls');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs’ Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson injury updates with Victor Wembanyama set to return vs. Bulls');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Devin_Vassell_Keldon_Johnson_injury_updates_with_Victor_Wembanyama_set_to_return_vs._Bulls.webp"></figure><h1>Spurs’ Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson injury updates with Victor Wembanyama set to return vs. Bulls</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-12-21T15:21:01-08:00">December 21st, 3:21pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-12-21T15:21:01-08:00">December 21st, 3:21pm</time><address><a>Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While Victor Wembanyama will likely play in the San Antonio Spurs only visit to Chicago, the team’s second leading scorer might not. And like Wemby, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-keldon-johnson-newest-nicknames-fit-perfectly-impressive-effort-loss-bucks" rel="noopener">Spurs third leading scorer</a> will also probably suit up.</p><p>The Silver and Black enter Thursday night’s game with a 4-22 record. The Chicago Bulls are 12-17, though they’ve won their last two games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, and have come out on top in seven of their last ten games.</p><h2>Devin Vassell questionable</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Devin_Vassell_s_personal_milestone_helps_Spurs_end_18-game_skid_with_win_over_Lakers.webp"></figure><p>After not being included in the Spurs initial injury report ahead of the match up with the Bulls, Devin Vassell was listed with an “illness” on the Spurs update. The former Florida State Seminole is battling a stomach bug and that the team <a href="https://twitter.com/tom_orsborn/status/1737889480088936578" rel="noopener">hopes he feels better</a> closer to game time, via Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio-Express News.</p><p>Earlier in the month, Spurs point guard Tre Jones missed a game with stomach issues.</p><p>Vassell has missed five contests this season with what the team termed a groin strain. He’s averaging 18.2 points per game, which is a fraction under the career-high 18.5 her averaged last year in a season shortened by knee surgery.</p><h2>Keldon Johnson probable</h2><p>In the absence of Wembanyama, Keldon Johnson <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-spurs-keldon-johnson-a-trade-candidate-will-warriors-make-a-play" rel="noopener">led the Spurs</a> with 28 points in Tuesday’s 132-119 loss at the Milwaukee Bucks.</p><p>In going 9-of-13 in a team-high 35 minutes, Johnson also led the squad with 12 rebounds in a effort that left the fifth-year forward with several bumps and bruises.</p><p>At 17.5 points per game, last season’s leading scorer ranks third on the club in scoring.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs’ Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson injury updates with Victor Wembanyama set to return vs. Bulls

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-keldon-johnson-newest-nicknames-fit-perfectly-impressive-effort-loss-bucks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs: Keldon Johnson’s newest nicknames fit perfectly');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Keldon_Johnson_s_newest_nicknames_fit_perfectly_after_impressive_effort_in_loss_to_Bucks.webp"></figure><h1>Spurs: Keldon Johnson’s newest nicknames fit perfectly</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-12-20T08:30:54-08:00">December 20th, 8:30am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-12-20T08:30:54-08:00">December 20th, 8:30am</time><address><a>Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Victor Wembanyama is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-pelicans-zion-williamson-has-nightmare-victor-wembanyama-prediction-that-should-scare-the-nba" rel="noopener">the San Antonio Spurs’ biggest star</a>. Devin Vassell may have the most offensive versatility. Jeremy Sochan may be their best perimeter defender. Keldon Johnson? Well…he’s there. Seemingly in the best possible way. In his fifth year with the  Spurs, J0hnon is the elder statesman of the team’s young core. Even though he’s just 24 years old. KJ has repeatedly said his role is whatever the team needs it to be this season, which he showed Tuesday in the Spurs’ 132-119 <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-gregg-popovich-optimistic-despite-ugly-loss-damian-lillard-bucks" rel="noopener">loss at the Milwaukee Bucks</a>.</p><h2>Nicknames piling up</h2><p>Keldon Johnson again <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202312190MIL.html" rel="noopener">paced the team</a> on Tuesday with his 28 points and 12 rebounds which both led the team in the loss to the Bucks. It marked the sixth team KJ led the Silver and Black in points and the fifth team he’s led in rebounding. The team’s leading scorer last year, Johnson seems to have taken his coach’s message to heart.</p><p>Against the Bucks, Johnson picked up some slack with leading scorer Victor Wembanyama out because of a sore right ankle.</p><p>“That’s how he plays, he’s a bulldog. He’s a freight train, man. He always plays with a lot of energy, no matter what the score is.” Spurs center Zach Collins said, “He’s going to go out there and try to get offensive rebounds, go for steals. He has a great ability to attack the rim and draw fouls. And if you don’t foul him, he’s probably going to finish it. That’s a very good weapon for us.”</p><p>After a start in Milwaukee so poor that the Spurs found themselves down 18 just six minutes in, Popovich said the Kentucky alum was instrumental in the squad’s improved play the rest of the way.</p><p>“Keldon, obviously, got aggressive but everybody got aggressive to start. Other than first quarter, I thought there was a lot of good things to look at,” the Hall of Fame coach stated.</p><h2>Wembanyama’s status for Thursday</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/spurs-news-victor-wembanyamas-instant-hyped-reaction-after-embarrassing-lebron-james-lakers.webp"></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs: Keldon Johnson’s newest nicknames fit perfectly

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-keldon-johnson-a-trade-candidate-will-warriors-make-a-play');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs’ Keldon Johnson a trade candidate. Will Warriors make a play?');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NBA-rumors-Spurs-Keldon-Johnson-a-trade-candidate.-Will-Warriors-make-a-play.webp"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs’ Keldon Johnson a trade candidate. Will Warriors make a play?</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-12-14T08:38:16-08:00">December 14th, 8:38am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-12-14T08:38:16-08:00">December 14th, 8:38am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Golden State Warriors are in danger of completely falling off the pace in the Western Conference. Now that they’ll be without Draymond Green for the foreseeable future <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-nba-real-reason-for-indefinite-suspension-on-draymond-green-revealed" rel="noopener">due to an indefinite suspension</a>, they may <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-trade-targets-early-2023-24-nba-season" rel="noopener">have to swing a trade</a> to give Stephen Curry some help. And that help could come in the form of San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson.</p><p>Make no mistake about it, there are no concrete indicators that portend a trade for Johnson from San Antonio. At this point, the Spurs need to accumulate talent, not get rid of them, and it’s not like Johnson’s contract is an albatross (he’ll be making an <a href="https://spotrac.com/nba/san-antonio-spurs/keldon-johnson-31588/" rel="noopener">average of $18.5 million</a> for the next four years). However, Marc J. Spears, speaking on Brian Windhorst’s The Hoop Collective, pointed out that the 6’5 forward could <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2023/12/14/keldon-johnson-the-odd-man-out-in-san-antonio/71917039007/" rel="noopener">end up being the odd man out</a> in San Antonio.</p><p>“You know who I got my eye on with the Spurs? Keldon Johnson I keep hearing this buzz about, not sure if he fits in well with this group going forward and should he be coming off the bench,” Spears said, via USA Today. “If there is a player that I think does get moved from the Spurs, my guess it’ll probably be Keldon Johnson.”</p><p>Johnson has upped his game for the Spurs this season; he is currently averaging 4.2 assists (up from 2.9 last season) and his turnover numbers are down (1.4 from 2.1). He has improved his playmaking for a team that has plenty of question marks at the point guard position, and given how affordable his contract is, there’s no reason for San Antonio to be hasty and get rid of him anytime soon.</p><p>But from the Warriors’ perspective, a player who can fill in many gaps on both ends of the court like Johnson does for the Spurs, not to mention someone who can fill up the scoresheet, can be a useful piece for a team that’s <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-concerning-golden-state-stat-worry-stephen-curry-fans" rel="noopener">in dire need of some scoring punch</a> next to Stephen Curry.</p><p>“For a team like Golden State, if he’s a player that they could pry away that could give him you know that 16 to 20 points on any given night… I think that’s a guy that they definitely should go after,” Spears added.</p><p>Only 24 years old, a rebuilding Spurs team will, more likely than not, hold onto Keldon Johnson. But dreaming of his acquisition won’t cost the Warriors anything anyway.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs’ Keldon Johnson a trade candidate. Will Warriors make a play?

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-keldon-johnson-role-change-provides-blueprint-future-success');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs’ Keldon Johnson role change provides blueprint to future success');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Keldon-Johnson_s-role-change-provides-Spurs-with-blueprint-to-future-success.jpg"></figure><h1>Spurs’ Keldon Johnson role change provides blueprint to future success</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-11-22T07:19:54-08:00">November 22nd, 7:19am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-11-22T07:20:56-08:00">November 22nd, 7:20am</time><address><a>Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>There’s every reason to believe that San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson isn’t paying lip service when he describes his new role.</p><p>“I roll with the punches and I adapt.”</p><p>That sounds like a phrase an athlete trying to find his niche would say.</p><p>“I feel like whatever is needed, that’s what I do.”</p><p>Similarly, sounds like a player who realizes he can best contribute by being versatile.</p><p>“I just continue to bring positivity to the team, bring energy and adapt to whatever I need to adapt to.”</p><p>That would normally come from a member of the rotation who’s trying to find a way to keep playing time. Instead, all three quotes come from a player who led his team in scoring last year.</p><h2><b>Keldon Johnson last season</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/spurs-1-early-concern-from-2023-24-nba-preseason-2.jpg"></figure><p>During a tough season that saw numerous injuries and plenty of — shall we say, caution — regarding player availability as the Spurs kept a sharp eye on the prize that would be Victor Wembanyama, there was only one certainty for the better part of the year: Keldon Johnson was San Antonio’s best player.</p><p>In his fourth season out of Kentucky, KJ’s 22.0 points per game <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/sa/season/2023/seasontype/2" rel="noopener">easily led the team</a>. Devin Vassell, who missed 44 games, mostly because of left knee issues that required arthroscopic knee surgery in January, ranked second with 18.5 points per game. No other Spur averaged more than 13 points per contest. Johnson’s 32.7 minutes per game were also tops on the squad.</p><p>Though the Silver and Black suffered through a 22-60 record, it marked a career year for the 29th overall pick of the 2019 draft. After tallying 9.1 points per game in his rookie campaign, his scoring average improved to 12.8 and then 17.0 leading up to last season.</p><p>With Vassell set to return from injury and with the addition of a generational prospect in Wembanyama, Johnson faced an adjustment. What kind and to what extent were the questions.</p><h2><b>Keldon Johnson this season</b></h2><p>Four weeks into the 2023-24 season, Keldon Johnson’s answers to questions about his role reveal there is no definitive answer — other than the ambiguity of ‘doing whatever needs to be done.’</p><p>To be sure, the 2020 Olympian has the ball in his hands plenty. He has led the team in scoring in five of the 13 contests he has played, and his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/san-antonio-spurs/stats" rel="noopener">16.8 points per game aren’t far behind</a> Wemby’s 18.6 and Vassell’s 17.3 among team leaders. With those two in the mix, Johnson is not the first offensive option on this team, nor is he the second. Because Jeremy Sochan is learning how to run the offense as the point guard, KJ may not even be the third option on many possessions.</p><p>“I just try to lead and do what my team needs me to do to win. If somebody else has a role, if Jeremy has a role, Dev (Vassell), Vic (Wembanyama),  Zach (Collins), whoever it may be, I just roll with that and continue to feed off that.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Spurs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Spurs</a> forward Keldon Johnson about his adjustments to his teammates adjustments…</p><p>“I just roll with the punches…”<br>Full answer ⬇️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoSpursGo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoSpursGo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PorVida?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PorVida</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZQnaVDFSfm">pic.twitter.com/ZQnaVDFSfm</a></p><p>— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/HectorLedesmaTV/status/1725570776093598080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Bonded with Wemby, Sochan and Vassell as Spurs first-round draft picks, at 24 years old Johnson is the oldest among the team’s young core. Perhaps, that best defines his unspecified role.</p><p>“When we start winning, y’all are always going to say, ‘KJ was the same person, winning or losing,’ and that’s what it’s going to be. But, we’re going to start winning. It’s just a matter of time. We’re learning, we’re getting better.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs’ Keldon Johnson role change provides blueprint to future success

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-news-san-antonio-receives-critical-keldon-johnson-preseason-injury-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs receive critical Keldon Johnson preseason injury update');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Spurs-news-San-Antonio-receives-critical-Keldon-Johnson-preseason-injury-update.jpg"></figure><h1>Spurs receive critical Keldon Johnson preseason injury update</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-10-15T19:16:50-07:00">October 15th, 7:16pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-10-15T19:16:50-07:00">October 15th, 7:16pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is based in Los Angeles and currently covers basketball at every level from NBA/WNBA to men/women college and boys/girls high school.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Despite not making any major free agent moves or trades, the San Antonio Spurs can be considered the winner of the offseason simply by virtue of drafting Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. During the Spurs preseason so far, Wembanyama has looked every bit <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-victor-wembanyama-sparks-cheat-code-buzz-amid-insane-preseason-start" rel="noopener">the generational talent</a> they believed they were getting. Even so, building a championship contender around Wembanyama is going to require other talented players. The Spurs believe they have one of those players in Keldon Johnson. Johnson <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-speaks-having-victor-wembanyamas-back-during-rookie-season" rel="noopener">already remarked</a> how he’s got Wembanyama’s back, and he’s set to make <a href="https://twitter.com/JMcDonald_SAEN/status/1713602602686922835" rel="noopener">his Spurs preseason debut</a> after dealing with a hamstring injury as per Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.</p><p>Keldon Johnson was originally selected by the Spurs with the No. 29 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. He’s going to be entering his fifth season in the NBA and has improved every year he’s been in the league. It’s possible that he blossoms into a borderline All-Star caliber player as a running mate alongside Wembanyama.</p><p>This past season, Johnson put up a career year. He started all 63 games he played in at a little under 33 minutes per game. He averaged a career-high 22.0 points per game, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists with splits of 45.2 percent shooting from the field, 32.9 percent shooting from the three point line and 74.9 percent shooting from the free throw line.</p><p>Johnson has become a fixture in the Spurs starting lineup during the 2020-21 season, his second in the NBA. He’s only 23 years old and still has another level in his game he can reach.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs receive critical Keldon Johnson preseason injury update

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-gets-real-on-san-antonio-culture-gregg-popovich-ahead-of-2023-24-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Keldon Johnson gets real on Spurs ‘culture’, Gregg Popovich ahead of 2023-24 season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Keldon-Johnson-Spurs-Gregg-Popovich-Victor-Wembanyama-Tim-Duncan-Manu-Ginobili-Tony-Parker-culture.jpg"></figure><h1>Keldon Johnson gets real on Spurs ‘culture’, Gregg Popovich ahead of 2023-24 season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-10-09T09:50:11-07:00">October 9th, 9:50am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-10-09T09:50:11-07:00">October 9th, 9:50am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Loves Arsenal and the Los Angeles Clippers, so his loyalty can never be questioned. This guy has been through enough sports trauma for one lifetime -- so he writes about it instead as a form of therapy. (It hasn't worked though. Someday maybe it will -- especially when he's been working for ClutchPoints since August 2022.)</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In the field of psychology, the debate between nurture and nature continues to rage on. Of course, most of the time, the answer lies somewhere in between. In the San Antonio Spurs’ case, they made the postseason for 22 straight years not only because of the sheer talent (nature) they had on the roster back when Tim Duncan and company were still active, but also because of legendary head coach Gregg Popovich’s <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-tony-parker-defines-what-spurs-culture-really-is-credits-tim-duncan" rel="noopener">tutelage</a> (nurture). And this, according to Keldon Johnson, remains very much alive to this day.</p><p>Speaking with Kelly Iko of The Athletic, the 23-year old forward who led the Spurs team last season in scoring, revealed that he still <a href="https://theathletic.com/4943358/2023/10/09/keldon-johnson-spurs-interview-preview/" rel="noopener">does feel the hallowed culture</a> the organization has set for years even though the results haven’t been pretty on the court for the past few seasons.</p><p>“Yeah, definitely, [I have felt the Spurs way]. It’s a culture here. Each and every day, we’re held to a certain standard. Some things, when you walk around here, you know it’s just Spurs culture. I feel like, as far as the standard and how we are and looked at, it’s no different,” Johnson said.</p><p>Given how much experience Gregg Popovich has in bringing out the best in his players, it’s no surprise to see that the culture they’ve built over the years remains intact, with Popovich being the constant variable that has held things together for the Spurs even as they transition to their next era of contention, perhaps with Victor Wembanyama <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-speaks-having-victor-wembanyamas-back-during-rookie-season" rel="noopener">leading the way</a>.</p><p>Even with the Spurs basically handing the keys to the franchise to their prized youngster, Keldon Johnson will still have a huge role to play in the team’s attempt to at least threaten to make the play-in tournament for the upcoming season. Johnson will be relied upon by the Spurs to shoulder some of the shot-creation burden on the perimeter, and with increased talent around him, he’ll have more space to maneuver his way towards the basket.</p><p>And with Johnson being just 23 years of age and fully ingrained within the Spurs’ culture, his career may yet take off from here.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
12.2	5.0	1.7	0.2	0.8

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
12.2	5.0	1.7	0.2	0.8

Keldon Johnson news

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