By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-04-16 14:12:09
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)（0号）在2025年4月13日星期日在圣安东尼奥的Frost Bank Center举行的下半场比赛中，多伦多猛龙队被判犯规时做出了反应。在球迷答谢之夜，约翰逊带领马刺队以23分击败猛龙队，比分为125-118。
马刺队前锋凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)在他NBA生涯的第六个赛季的最后一天，盛装打扮地出现在工作岗位上。
一条镶满钻石的项链上挂着他的姓名首字母，头戴一顶适合农场的黑色牛仔帽，约翰逊已经为休赛期可能发生的一切做好了准备。
第一站是他位于希尔乡村的牧场。
“我觉得我们在2025年已经离开太久了，”约翰逊在马刺队赛季末战胜多伦多后说道。“我必须和我的狗在一起。”
自从2019年NBA选秀大会以第29顺位来到圣安东尼奥以来，约翰逊已经像玉米片爱上奶酪一样爱上了这座城市。
正如当地人可能会说的那样，他已经成为了纯正的圣安东尼奥人。
“我喜欢这里，”这位出生于弗吉尼亚州的约翰逊说道。“从第一天起，我就觉得这里的每个人都像家人一样。我很容易把我的家人也搬到这里，因为这里的人们非常热情友好。”
在打出了可以说是他职业生涯中最好的一个赛季后，约翰逊在休赛期做好了成为更多交易流言主角的准备。
这已经不是什么新鲜事了。
约翰逊长期存在于交易市场，与马刺队管理层对他的看法无关。
球员和球队之间的感情是真实而相互的。
“凯尔登可能没有得到足够的赞扬，因为他牺牲了很多，”代理教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)说道。“他所做的一切都带着同样的无畏、忠诚，并像任何人一样挥舞着马刺队的旗帜。”
约翰逊下赛季的薪水为1750万美元，2026-27赛季的薪水也是1750万美元，这位25岁的约翰逊拥有一份非常容易交易的合同。
他的薪水足以在假设的交易中运作，以换取一个重要的球员，但又不会高到足以压垮另一支球队的工资帽。
这就是为什么他的名字以前也出现在交易传闻中的原因，也是为什么在马刺队能够在2月份交易得到全明星后卫达龙·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)而没有送走约翰逊时，让人们感到有些惊讶的原因。
由于马刺队今年夏天在交易市场上的活跃程度可能不如两个月前那么高，因此约翰逊有可能——如果不是必然——会继续留在马刺队，迎来他的第七个赛季。
这是他所期待的结果。
“我经历过低谷，”凯尔登·约翰逊说道，他的职业生涯与马刺队历史上最长的季后赛荒同时发生。“如果上帝愿意，我也会在这里看到所有的好日子。”
在他第一个完整的替补赛季中，约翰逊证明了自己是2024-25赛季马刺队轮换阵容中不可或缺的一员。
约翰逊场均得到12.7分——这是他新秀赛季以来的最低得分——但尽管如此，他似乎最终适应了他作为替补的角色。
约翰逊替补出场总共得到979分，打破了马刺队单赛季纪录。之前的纪录由名人堂成员马努·吉诺比利(Manu Ginobili)保持，他在2007-08赛季获得最佳第六人时替补出场得到927分。
“去年对我来说是一个很大的改变，”约翰逊说道，他在2023年12月永久转为替补之前，曾首发了之前207场比赛中的204场。“这不是秘密，但今年我们正面面对了它。我只是努力做到尽可能地稳定。”
无论他的角色如何，约翰逊仍然致力于证明自己对这支他热爱的球队是不可或缺的。
他总是被“不能”这个词所驱动。
“对我来说，一切都归结为每个人总是认为凯尔登有什么做不到的事情，”约翰逊说道。“人们会说，‘哦，凯尔登不一定是最好的防守者。凯尔登不是这个或那个。’我总是埋头苦干。”
在几周后离开牧场休息放松后，约翰逊计划用同样的方式对待他的休赛期发展计划。
“我看到了流言蜚语，看到了人们说我做不到的事情，”约翰逊说道。“我觉得我每个赛季都在进步。角色可能会不同，人们的期望可能会不同，但我觉得我每年都在我需要成长的领域成长。”
如果约翰逊如愿以偿，这种成长将继续发生，同时他胸前穿着银黑色的球衣。
在经历了过去六年的低谷之后，这个最纯正的马刺球员最希望的就是能够在球队再次登上顶峰时身在其中。
戴着牛仔帽，以及所有的一切。
“我很兴奋，伙计，”约翰逊说道。“我认为我们真的在朝着正确的方向发展。我们以一个良好的状态结束了这个赛季。肯定有进步。我很高兴每个人都保持健康，真正走出去竞争。”
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (0) grabs the rebound over Toronto Raptors forward Jamison Battle (77) during the second half at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Sunday, April 13, 2025. The Spurs defeated the Raptors 125-118 on Fan Appreciation Night.
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (0) goes up for a shot over Toronto Raptors forward Jonathan Mogbo (2) during the second half at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Sunday, April 13, 2025. The Spurs defeated the Raptors 125-118 on Fan Appreciation Night.
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson, center, is fouled by Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III, rear, during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Keldon Johnson (0) gets past Moses Moody (4) in the first half as the Golden State Warriors played the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center in San Francisco, on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
点击查看原文：Will Keldon Johnson endure another offseason of trade rumors?
Will Keldon Johnson endure another offseason of trade rumors?
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (0) reacts as a foul is called on the Toronto Raptors during the second half at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Sunday, April 13, 2025. Johnson lead the Spurs with 23 points to defeat the Raptors 125-118 on Fan Appreciation Night.
Spurs forward Keldon Johnson showed up for the final day of work in his sixth NBA season Sunday dressed to impress.
With a diamond encrusted chain bearing his initials around his neck and a black cowboy hat fit for the farm atop his head, Johnson was ready for anything the offseason might have in store.
First stop, the ranch he owns in the Hill Country.
“I feel like we’ve been gone so much in 2025,” Johnson said after the Spurs’ victory over Toronto in the season finale. “I’ve got to be with my dogs.”
Since arriving in San Antonio as the No. 29 pick in the 2019 NBA draft, Johnson has taken to the city like a tortilla chip to queso.
He has become, as the locals might say, puro San Antonio.
“I love it here,” the Virginia-born Johnson said. “From Day 1, I felt like everybody here was like family. It was easy for me to transition my own family out here, because the people are so welcoming and nice.”
Having turned in arguably his best season as a pro, Johnson heads into the offseason bracing to be the brunt of more trade rumors.
This is nothing new.
Johnson’s perennial availability has nothing to do with how the Spurs organization feels about him.
The affection between the player and the team is real and mutual.
“Keldon probably doesn’t get enough credit for all the things he has sacrificed,” acting coach Mitch Johnson said. “He’s done it all with nothing but the same fearlessness, loyalty and waving the Spurs flag as anybody.”
Set to make $17.5 million next season and another $17.5 million in 2026-27, the 25-year-old Johnson comes with an exceedingly tradeable contract.
He earns just enough to make the arithmetic work on a hypothetical trade for a player of consequence, without making so much that it sinks another team’s salary cap situation.
It is why his name has come up in trade chatter before, and why it was something of a surprise when the Spurs were able to deal for All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox in February without parting with Johnson.
With the Spurs perhaps less active on the trade market this summer than they were two months ago, it is possible – if not probable – Johnson survives to see a seventh season with the Spurs.
That is the outcome he is rooting for.
“I’ve been here through the valleys,” said Keldon Johnson, whose tenure has coincided with the longest playoff drought in Spurs history. “God willing, I will be here to see all the good days as well.”
In his first full season coming off the bench, Johnson proved himself an invaluable member of the Spurs’ rotation in 2024-25.
Johnson averaged 12.7 points – his fewest since his rookie season – but nevertheless appeared to at last find a comfort level with his role as a reserve.
The 979 points Johnson totaled off the bench smashed a Spurs single-season record. The previous mark was held by Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili, who logged 927 points as a reserve during his Sixth Man of the Year season in 2007-08.
“It was a big change for me last year,” said Johnson, who had started 204 of his previous 207 games before moving to the bench permanently in December 2023. “That’s no secret, but this year we faced it head on. I just tried to be as consistent as possible.”
Whatever his role, Johnson remains bent on showing himself indispensable to the team he loves.
He is perpetually driven by the word “can’t.”
“For me, it all boils down to everybody always has something Keldon can’t do,” Johnson said. “People say like, ‘Oh, well Keldon isn’t necessarily the best defender. Keldon isn’t this or that.’ I always just keep my head down and work.”
Once he leaves the R&R of the ranch in a few weeks, Johnson plans to take the same approach to his offseason development plan.
“I see the chatter, see the things people say I can’t do,” Johnson said. “I feel like I improve every season. Role may different, people’s expectations may be different, but I feel like I grow in the areas I need to grow every year.”
If Johnson has his way, that growth will continue to come while wearing silver and black across his chest.
Having weathered the valleys of the past six years, the most puro Spur of them all wants nothing more than to be around when the team once again reaches the mountaintop.
Cowboy hat and all.
“I’m excited, man,” Johnson said. “I think we are really trending in the right direction. We finished off this season on a good note. There’s definitely progression. I’m excited to have everybody healthy and really get out there and compete.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News