Former Kentucky star Keldon Johnson signs four-year extension with Spurs

Keldon Johnson is getting paid. The former Kentucky star is preparing to sign a big contract extension with the San Antonio Spurs.

Johnson has agreed to a four-year, $80 million extension with San Antonio, his agents told The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania. He just wrapped up his third year with the team and put up the best numbers of his career, averaging 17 points and 16.1 rebounds per game to help the Spurs to a 34-48 record to just sneak into the Western Conference play-in tournament.

San Antonio drafted Johnson as the No. 29 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft after one season at Kentucky. He averaged 13.5 points per contest and pulled down 5.9 rebounds per game as the Wildcats made a run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to Auburn to miss out on a Final Four appearance. Those numbers earned him SEC Freshman of the Year honors during his lone season in Lexington.

Johnson is a former five-star recruit and was the No. 16 prospect in the country from the class of 2018, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

More on a busy offseason for the San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs have had a busy offseason, selecting four players in the 2022 NBA Draft and notably trading Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks as the rebuild continues. San Antonio took former Baylor star Jeremy Sochan with the No. 9 overall pick before selecting former Ohio State standout Malaki Branham at No. 20 and former Notre Dame guard Blake Wesley at No. 25.

The Spurs also took former Tennessee guard Kennedy Chandler with the No. 38 overall pick in the draft, but they sent him to the Memphis Grizzlies in a draft night trade.