Keldon Johnson agrees to $80 million extension with Spurs

Keldon Johnson just hit the lottery — probably where he should’ve been in the NBA Draft from the start — signing a lucrative rookie extension with the San Antonio Spurs worth $80 million over four seasons.

The deal was reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic late Friday evening.

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, still just 22 years old, broke through in his third year with the Spurs in 2021-22. He averaged an impressive 17.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest while shooting nearly 40 percent from three.

The former Kentucky Wildcat is now under contract with the Spurs for five seasons, closing out his four-year, $10 million rookie deal this year.

Seen as a potential lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Johnson slipped all the way down to No. 29 overall before he was picked up by the Spurs to close out the first round. Three years later, he’s seen as a franchise cornerstone ready to lead the team through its upcoming rebuild.

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San Antonio recently traded away star guard Dejounte Murray, leaving Johnson as the team’s leading returning scorer and second-longest tenured Spur behind center Jakob Poeltl.

“It’s definitely big,” Johnson said of San Antonio’s vision for his future during an ESPN broadcast this week. “They believe in me and trust me to come in and lead these guys in the right direction. I’m definitely taking that serious. I’m definitely out here every game showing my face to the young guys because they’re gonna be a part of our team this year. So just stay checking in and continue to be a leader and hope it just leads these guys to something special.”

During his lone season at Kentucky in 2018-19, the 6-foot-6 forward averaged 13.5 points on 46.1 percent shooting to go with 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

Now, Johnson is a $20-million-per-year player in the NBA.