Keldon Johnson’s place in San Antonio has become one of the more misunderstood talking points heading into Spurs training camp.
The noise this summer has often centered on whether Johnson even fits anymore. But the clearer read is simpler: his role is changing, not disappearing. With the Spurs bringing more competition into the forward rotation, Johnson is looking at a different set of responsibilities than he had last season.
That matters because his last year was a strong one. Johnson earned a well-deserved 6MOY campaign, putting up 13.2 points per game while shooting 51% from the field and 36% from three in the regular season. Even so, his rough playoff showing and San Antonio’s deeper roster point to a season where his usage could be far less stable.
The bigger question isn’t whether Johnson can still help. It’s how the Spurs want to use him.
He’s unlikely to be cut out of the rotation entirely, but he also won’t be featured in the offense the same way he was a year ago. That’s the kind of thing training camp is built to sort out.
A lot of the attention around Johnson this offseason drifted toward trade chatter. After his postseason struggles, social media quickly turned into a referendum on whether he belonged on a contender at all. The reaction was loud, and in the piece of reporting here, it’s dismissed as overly harsh and way too quick to judge.
There’s a more practical conversation to have. Johnson is still on the roster, and the Spurs still need to figure out how Mitch Johnson can best deploy him. That means looking at what his minutes and touches should actually be, not treating him like a player who’s already been pushed out.
The adjustment starts with the ball in his hands. Last season, Johnson did a strong job getting downhill off the dribble and finishing at the rim. But with Tobias Harris joining the mix and Dylan Harper expected to play a bigger role, with Carter Bryant possibly in that same conversation, Johnson is set to lose both minutes and some of those handling responsibilities.
So the path forward is pretty clear. He’ll need to lean harder into rebounding, defense, and becoming a better catch-and-shoot option. Those traits will matter more in lineups where other players are carrying the creation load.
If there’s a reason this doesn’t feel like a dramatic overhaul, it’s because Johnson has already lived through a major role change. He moved from starter to sixth man before, and in doing so he made room for others to shine. That kind of flexibility is part of his value, and it’s why asking him to shift again shouldn’t come as a surprise.
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