The San Antonio Spurs are in the midst of a busy summer, as the team moved Dejounte Murray at the end of June to the Atlanta Hawks for the since-released Danilo Gallinari and a bevy of draft picks. With Murray gone, Keldon Johnson is the team’s returning scorer from last season, and late on Friday night, news dropped that the Spurs plan on keeping the former first-round pick around for the next few years.
Shams Charania of The Athletic received word that Johnson and the Spurs came to terms on a contract extension. After playing out the final year of his rookie deal next year, Johnson will begin a 4-year deal that will pay him $80 million.
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson has agreed to a four-year, $80 million contract extension, Klutch Sports’ CEO Rich Paul and agent Lucas Newton tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 16, 2022
Johnson flashed his considerable potential during his first two years in the NBA, and last offseason, Gregg Popovich brought him to Japan as part of the gold medal-winning United States squad. He parlayed that into an impressive 2021-22 campaign in San Antonio, starting 74 of the 75 games in which he appeared and averaging a career-best 17 points and 6.1 rebounds in 31.9 minutes per game. Now, he’ll be tasked with being the face of the Spurs as they look to get back to being a consistent postseason contender in the Western Conference.