Keldon Johnson’s next chapter with the Spurs is already loaded with pressure, but the biggest question around him won’t get answered until months down the line.
The veteran forward put together a strong regular season last year and even took home Sixth Man of the Year, but his playoff run told a very different story. When the postseason arrived, Johnson had a hard time getting into the paint, and opponents clearly keyed in on his habit of powering straight to the rim. The defensive end was shaky too, with fouls piling up at the worst moments.
It was also his first playoff experience, even after seven seasons with San Antonio, so the rough showing isn’t exactly a career sentence. Still, it left him with plenty to prove heading into next season.
That urgency is real. Johnson was the Spurs’ worst rotation player in the playoffs by net rating, and if De'Aaron Fox's disaster class in the NBA Finals had not happened, more of the spotlight would have landed on Johnson. Even now, the playoff performance has already carried consequences: the Spurs did not give him a contract extension this summer.
Instead, the team locked up Victor Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie, a clear sign that Johnson sits much lower on the offseason priority list. That decision may not have been driven only by his postseason struggles, but it certainly fits the picture.
He’s now entering the final year of his deal, and San Antonio appears hesitant to make a long-term commitment. The Spurs would probably like to keep him, but second-apron concerns make that kind of move difficult.
So Johnson is likely to play next season without an extension in hand, with two clear motivations hanging over him: earn a new contract and erase the memory of that playoff run. His role could shrink, but he still has a path to matter. If he keeps hitting open threes, attacks the offensive glass, and chooses his drives wisely, he can still help.
There’s also a defensive lane for improvement. Cutting down on fouls and spending less time guarding power forwards could make him less of a problem on that end.
Even with all that in place, the real answer on Johnson won’t come right away. It will take months to see how he responds to the postseason setback. The expectation is a bounce-back season, but financial realities could mean this is still his last year in San Antonio.
In Other News...
Chris Bosh Sends Spurs Another Warning About Victor Wembanyama
Chris Bosh has become one of the clearest voices for Victor Wembanyama as the Spurs star continues navigating the kind of health scare that can change a career in a hurry. Bosh knows the stakes better than most after blood clots cut short his own NBA run, and he recently offered advice from that experience while making the rounds at a charity event. For San Antonio, the connection matters because Wembanyama has already dealt with a diagnosis that forced him off the floor before he returned to play.
Wembanyama was diagnosed in February 2025 and later got the green light from medical staff four months after surgery, but the subject is still bigger than a typical injury update. Bosh has spoken openly about his own condition, and his warning carries extra weight because it comes from someone who lived through the long-term consequences. The Spurs can only hope Wembanyama keeps moving forward, because with this issue, the margins are as thin as they get. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs May Have Proven The Right Way To Build Around Wemby
The Giannis Antetokounmpo speculation around San Antonio never went anywhere, but it did underscore the bigger question hanging over the franchise: how aggressively should the Spurs chase a title while Victor Wembanyama is still on the rise? In theory, Giannis would have been an ideal fit next to Wembanyama, giving the Spurs a devastating blend of rim pressure, defense and star power. Instead, the front office stayed the course with its young core, a decision that looked more patient than flashy at the time.
Now the way San Antonio handled that moment feels a lot smarter in hindsight. The Spurs kept their foundation intact, advanced all the way to the NBA Finals and enter the next season with real championship expectations. For a team trying to build around a generational player, the lesson may be that the right move is not always the biggest one, especially when the roster is already starting to look like it can win on its own. [Read more 🡒]