According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the San Antonio Spurs are apparently willing to “listen” to offers for Keldon Johnson, and with the team potentially heading in a new direction around Victor Wembanyama, the 6-foot-5 winger may find a new home soon.
Would the Oklahoma City Thunder start making offers for Johnson? Now, they definitely could. The Thunder have all the pieces in place for a trade, and at the right price, it could make sense.
Johnson, a Kentucky product, averaged 16.3 points per game over five years. With the addition of Wembanyama, Johnson's scoring average dropped from 22 points per game to 15.7 points per game. His efficiency increased slightly, but his overall production dropped. So teams could be looking to get a chance to see him peak in the 2022-23 NBA season.
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Johnson is a well-rounded player who has recently been hitting 35% from three-point range and has been solid defensively. He has also improved with the ball in his hands year after year, and his well-rounded game will be a plus for the Thunder.
Johnson is currently in the second year of a four-year, $74 million contract. With the Thunder, he'll likely come off the bench. That's a lot of money for a sixth man. But a trade could work. The Thunder could use this as an opportunity to get Josh Giddey out there.
With Guidi potentially playing alongside Wembanyama, the team would have a true point guard who could further develop and expand his game as an NBA player, which would allow the soon-to-be 25-year-old Johnson to take on a more meaningful role playing winning basketball and coming off the bench.
The Thunder would likely lose two first-round draft picks and would be better off spending that money on a tall, versatile forward with rebounding ability. In fact, they would probably want to spend more on that type of player.
It's unlikely the Thunder would make a trade to acquire Johnson, but they have more flexibility than any team in the NBA and more draft assets, so rumors of a “check and see” situation are likely.
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