As he enters his sixth season with the San Antonio Spurs, veteran Keldon Johnson has established himself as one of the team’s most important players. Despite averaging 22 points per game during the 2022-23 season, the Virginia native took a back seat in the lineup last season. Johnson started just 27 games for the Spurs in 2023-24 and is slated to play a similar role this season. Nonetheless, Johnson, who turns 25 in one week, is still a crucial part of the team. Additionally, the forward knows this and revealed exactly where he improved the most this summer.
Per Tom Orsborn of San Antonio Express-News, Johnson made it clear that working on his defense was a major priority for him. Additionally, Johnson called it his “main thing to focus on this summer.”
“I feel like I am ready to defend,” he said. “That has been my main thing to focus on this summer.”
Keldon Johnson Says Where He Improved the Most This Summer
Where the San Antonio Spurs Stand Defensively
Despite having Victor Wembanyama, who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, on the team, the Spurs are a below-average defensive team. Last season, the Spurs allowed 118.6 points per game. This was the seventh-worst in the league. Additionally, their 116.4 Defensive Rating ranked ninth-worst in the NBA. If Johnson improved even a little bit on the defensive end, this should pay dividends for the Spurs.
Still, unless Johnson became prime Kawhi Leonard over the course of this offseason, the Spurs are still a subpar defensive team in the league. However, what bodes well for them is how young they are overall. In theory, especially with the pieces already on the roster, the Spurs should naturally become a better defensive team over time.
The San Antonio Spurs’ Offseason
The Spurs had a good offseason this summer, all things considered. Arguably their biggest need was landing a point guard to pair alongside Wembanyama. Technically, they got two–Chris Paul and Stephon Castle. Additionally, the Spurs landed Harrison Barnes from the Sacramento Kings as part of the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade. Barnes is slated to start for the team at small forward next season. On the flip side, the Spurs moved on from Devonte’ Graham, who is now with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Last season, the Spurs finished with a 22-60 record for the second consecutive season. Given how competitive the rest of the Western Conference is, it seems unlikely the Spurs will make a postseason appearance next season. However, there is a lot to be excited about in San Antonio regardless. They had a very solid offseason and improved a lot on paper. Additionally, Wembanyama will return for his second season and should somehow be even better than he was last season.
All in all, this is nowhere near the level of the Spurs teams of the 2000s. Not even close. However, as long as Gregg Popovich is still at the helm, the Spurs will always have a chance to surprise a lot of people in the basketball world.
