Keldon Johnson – San Antonio Spurs
Not many professional basketball players can say that they have won an Olympic gold medal before turning 22-years-old, but Keldon Johnson became the second-youngest player for Team USA to win Olympic gold behind just Anthony Davis, who did so at the age of 19-years-old.
Both Johnson and Davis went to the University of Kentucky and they have produced some pretty decent basketball players over the years.
Rajon Rondo, John Wall, Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Julius Randle, and Bam Adebayo are just some of the All-Stars who have attended UK and Keldon Johnson could wind up being the next big Kentucky product in the league.
He did not play much during his rookie season, but Keldon Johnson really made some big strides during his first NBA offseason last year, as he put together a really solid “sophomore season” in the NBA. Johnson averaged 12.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists last year while shooting 47.9% from the floor.
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With DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay now gone at the forward positions, this not opens up more minutes for Johnson on the Spurs this upcoming season, but they are going to be searching for a player to be their “alpha.”
DeRozan had been the leader of the Spurs since was traded there in 2018, but now, one of their young talents in Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, and/or Keldon Johnson will take the reins of the franchise.
Keldon Johnson definitely has a really strong case for being one of the league’s best breakout talents during the 2021-22 season not only because of his situation in San Antonio and the fact that they will be a bottom-tier team in the league but because of his experiences with Team USA at the Olympics this summer will set him apart from everyone else on this roster.
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Being able to learn from the likes of Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and others will greatly help Johnson this upcoming season and the lessons he learned from these guys will definitely show. San Antonio may be a team on the decline, but Keldon Johnson is definitely a young talent on the rise in this league.
