Welcome to Pounding the Rock’s 2024-25 player reviews! The series will look at the players who finished the season with the San Antonio Spurs on guaranteed contracts and who played consequential minutes and/or a vital role (so no two-way players because we hardly saw them this year, and no players who were traded away).
Keldon Johnson
2024-25 stats: 12.7 points, 4.8 rebounds. 1.6 assists, 48.2 FG%
Contract Status: 2 years, $35 million remaining
Age: 25
At first glance, Keldon Johnson’s stats for this season don’t look impressive. In fact, they look downright measly compared to recent seasons and more on par with 2020-21, which was just his second season in the NBA, his first with a true role, and he spent most of it as the third or fourth option in a starting lineup that also featured DeMar DeRozan, Dejounte Murray and LaMarcus Aldridge. If you just look at his numbers but didn’t actually watch the Spurs this season, you’d probably say something like this:
However, if you did watch (and paid attention), you’d know those numbers on their own are misleading. Perhaps some people expect Johnson to be the 2022-23 version of himself, when he was a starter and the team’s leading scorer in the “Tank for Wemby” season, but that’s not the role that is being asked of him anymore. For the first time in his career, he did not start a single game. Instead, he willingly came off the bench, posting his lowest total minutes (and minutes per game at just 23.9) since his rookie season despite playing in a career-high 77 games.
With that in mind, if you refer to his per 36 minutes stats for this season, they are perfectly in line with his typical output when he was starter at 19.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Outside of his rookie season (when he only played in 17 games and burst onto the scene in the Orlando Bubble), he hit a career-high 48.2% from the field and by far his best from inside the arc at 57.3%, all while doing what he does best: play with heart and hustle while using his big body to crash into the paint.
Of course, none of this is to say he had a great season. He shot a career-worst 31.8% from three, and he was still prone to some dry stretches, sometimes going a week or so at a time without a double-digit scoring game. But overall, he was a very solid sixth man and actually broke Manu Ginobili’s franchise record of 927 points off the bench from his Sixth Man of the Year award-winning season in 2007-08. In fact, Johnson was the third leading scorer off the bench in the entire NBA this season, and if the Spurs had a winning record, he may have actually been considered for the award. This wasn’t his best season ever, but it certainly wasn’t the bad one stat watchers would have you believe.
Looking ahead
Keldon remains on an extremely team-friendly deal that looks better and better each year as it decreases while the cap increases (and it will again). While he is still one of the Spurs’ best bargaining chips if they revisit the trade market, they probably won’t be actively shopping him unless the goal is to add another superstar (as Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo rumors heat up — not that there’s any guarantee the Spurs will mortgage most of their young core for them).
That being said, as long as he’s still a Spur, Johnson can probably expect a similar role going forward, and he will likely continue to embrace it. He’s their longest tenured player and the heart and soul of the locker room. His energy is contagious, and his teammates love him. I always think back to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics when people mocked his inclusion on Team USA, referring to it as nepotism on Gregg Popovich’s part, but Draymond Green came to his defense, stating how important his enthusiasm and jovial personality was to the team during such trying, lonely times. (As a reminder, that was also a bubble, and the team only had each other.)
Per usual, there are areas Keldon can improve, such as consistency and his three-point shot. (I personally wonder if he had some mechanics tweaked this season, as he shot fewer of his signature “rainbow” threes that would leave the TV screen before coming back down.) But anyone who undervalues what he brings to the team underestimates what having a united locker room means. He’s far from the best or most talented player on this roster, but he is just as important to the culture of the team as anyone. Call me a Keldon Stan, but if he ever does leave the Spurs, he’ll be getting a “thank you” article from yours truly.
Top Performance
February 21 vs. Detroit Pistons: 28 points, 11-13 shooting, 4 rebounds, 5 assists
Final Grade: B
Up next: Harrison Barnes
Previous Reviews:
Bismack Biyombo, Charles Bassey, Malaki Branham