San Antonio Spurs: Three ways Keldon Johnson can solidify his role in Orlando

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MAY 16: Future San Antonio Spurs rookie Keldon Johnson speaks with the media during Day One of the NBA Draft Combine at Quest MultiSport Complex. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Returning to play at the end of July will give San Antonio Spurs rookie Keldon Johnson a shot to leave a strong impression on his team.

It’s not easy to make it as a rookie in the San Antonio Spurs’ system, so first-year wing Keldon Johnson deserves a lot of credit. His tenacity on both end of the floor earned him more minutes than expected at the tail-end of the Spurs’ season prior to the league’s stoppage of play. While injuries played into it, it seemed like head coach Gregg Popovich liked what he saw.

Johnson is a fiery competitor with a wide range of skills, but he still needs to figure out what he’s best at. It’s a good problem to have for one of the most NBA-ready rookies in his class despite playing for the team least-likely to give playing time to first-year players. The fact that he had that four-game stretch playing meaningful minutes during the course of action says a lot about his maturity.

Popovich doesn’t just dole out minutes to first-year players—Johnson has already logged 13 or more minutes in one more game than Lonnie Walker IV did as a rookie. Playing time isn’t a right, it’s a privilege and Keldon is earning that by pushing himself in the G-League and acclimating to the professional talent as early and often as possible. When he plays garbage-time minutes at the end of games, Keldon plays with the aggressiveness he would during the course of a game.

His two-way effort never wavers, even if it occasionally gets him into some trouble with fouls or turnovers. Still, Keldon course-corrects more easily than most rookies ever could, which makes him the right fit for San Antonio’s system. There are certain aspects of his game that already outshine players ahead of him in the rotation and now that the Spurs are in the Orlando Bubble, it’s more likely than ever that he can carve out a role.

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