Tag: Keon Johnson

Trail Blazers: Chauncey Billups offers positive injury update on Keon Johnson

The Trail Blazers acquired Johnson from the Clippers on Feb. 4 in the five-player trade involving Norman Powell and Robert Covington.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups on Wednesday remained hopeful that rookie Keon Johnson can debut with the team on Thursday versus the Golden State Warriors.

The Trail Blazers acquired Johnson from the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4 in the five-player trade involving Norman Powell and Robert Covington. However, he has yet to suit up with the team after dealing with a right ankle sprain suffered with the Clippers.

Johnson said following the trade that it would still likely be a few more weeks before he could return to play but appears to have made good progress in his recovery.

“Keon is getting close,” Billups said. “I’m hopeful that he’ll be out there tomorrow. He practiced today, looked good. Obviously, we have to see how he feels after a live practice. It is his first time in quite a while so I’m hoping he can help us tomorrow.”

Johnson, the 21st pick, played sparingly with the Clippers, averaging 3.5 points in 15 appearances. He spent much of the season in the NBA G League and averaged 15.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 16 games with the Agua Caliente Clippers.

The 19-year-old spent much of the season with the Clippers in a developmental role and it will be worth monitoring how he progresses along in a new situation. He earned praise from L.A. for his ability to pick things up so he should be able to do that again in Portland.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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NBA trade deadline 2022: Complete tracker of every deal prior to Thursday

Rookie Wire is keeping track of every trade ahead of the Thursday deadline based on the latest intel available.

With the NBA nearing the trade deadline, teams and players around the league are on high alert with several notable names linked to rumors and other speculation.

The trade last week involving the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers tipped off the festivities with other transactions now beginning to filter in. The action will certainly heat up as the 3 p.m. EST deadline on Thursday rapidly approaches.

NBA Rising Stars 2022: Full rosters revealed in draft announcement

From the likes of Ben Simmons to James Harden, there could be some notable players moved ahead of the trade deadline this year. Of course, other players are certainly on the trading block as teams look to improve their respective rosters.

Rookie Wire will keep you informed of every trade made prior to the deadline in this tracker. It will be updated with each reported move ahead of Thursday.

Keon Johnson traded to Portland

Former Vol Keon Johnson traded to Portland in a five-player deal.

NBA rookie and former Tennessee guard Keon Johnson was traded Friday as part of a five-player deal between the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland.

Johnson, Justice Winslow and Eric Bledsoe have been traded to the Trail Blazers in exchange for Robert Covington and Norman Powell.

Johnson spent one year with the Volunteers. He was a first-round selection in the 2021 NBA draft (No. 21) by New York.

Johnson was traded to the Clippers on draft night, where he was a two-way player, splitting time between Los Angeles and the NBA G-League’s Agua Caliente Clippers.

He appeared in 15 contests for Los Angeles and averaged 3.5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.

Johnson was named to the SEC’s All-Freshman Team in 2021.

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Report: Clippers to send Keon Johnson to Trail Blazers in 5-player trade

The Clippers will reportedly acquire Norman Powell and Robert Covington from the Trail Blazers.

On Friday, it was reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that the Los Angeles Clippers will be sending Eric Bledsoe to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of a five-player trade.

The Clippers will also move Justise Winslow, rookie Keon Johnson and a 2025 second-round pick to the Trail Blazers in exchange for Norman Powell and Robert Covington. The transaction will be the first major move ahead of next week’s Thursday trade deadline.

With the trade, the Clippers will add two proven veterans to their roster with Paul George (elbow) and Kawhi Leonard (knee) out for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers will shed the long-term salary for Powell, who signed a five-year, $90 million contract last year.

Convington is in the final year of his four-year contract.

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The reported deal between the two teams will ensure the Clippers can compete this season without George and Leonard. The team could eventually get them back toward the end of the season, which would only strengthen its chances of making a deep run.

For the Trail Blazers, the trade could mean the team will be sellers ahead of the trade deadline. The team is 10th in the Western Conference at 21-31 and could be looking to restart and acquire young players and future draft assets to build around.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Keon Johnson scores nine points in NBA G-League game

Former Vol Keon Johnson scores nine points in NBA G-League game.

Keon Johnson recorded nine points for Agua Caliente in its 103-94 loss to Stockton at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

Johnson also recorded eight rebounds and three assists for the Los Angeles Clippers’ NBA G-League affiliate.

Johnson played at Tennessee during the 2020-21 season before departing for the 2021 NBA draft. He was a member of the SEC’s All-Freshman Team during his lone campaign with the Vols.

He was the No. 21 overall selection in the 2021 NBA draft.

As a two-way player for the Clippers, Johnson has appeared in 15 NBA games, averaging 3.5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.

Follow us at @VolsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of University of Tennessee athletics.

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Tyronn Lue: Keon Johnson picking up offense really well for Clippers

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue commended Johnson for how quickly he is picking up things to start the season.

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue on Wednesday commended rookie Keon Johnson for how quickly he is picking up things to start the season.

Johnson has had a limited role with the Clippers to start the season but had the opportunity to log extended minutes on Wednesday. He registered two points, three rebounds and two assists in a season-high 12 minutes in the loss to the Sacramento Kings.

The opportunity to play on Wednesday served as a tremendous chance to gain real-game experience. He was often seen with Lue going over plays on the sideline throughout his time on the court. Lue credited him for picking up the offense, especially as a point guard.

He has been great. The point guard position is the toughest position. When he is up here with us, he plays the point a lot of times. When he is down with the G League, he is playing the two and off the ball a little bit more so he just plays hard, competes. That’s the biggest thing, the energy he brings us. He is picking up the offense really well at that position. He is going to make some mistakes but you can live with those mistakes because of the way he plays hard.

The appearance by Johnson on Wednesday was just his third of the season. He has mostly spent time with the Agua Caliente Clippers in the NBA G League, averaging 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals in five appearances.

Johnson likely will continue to see sporadic minutes in the NBA while playing in the G League on other occasions. He will be in a developmental role for much of the season but it figures to only prepare him for his future in the NBA.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Clippers’ Keon Johnson suffered ankle injury on G League assignment

The timetable for Johnson to return is still to be determined after suffering a sprained ankle with the Agua Caliente Clippers.

Los Angeles Clippers rookie Keon Johnson reportedly suffered a sprained ankle on Thursday with the Agua Caliente Clippers in the NBA G League, according to Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times.

Johnson appeared to suffer the injury after landing on the foot of a defender. He jumped up to contest a shot by Kevin Murphy of the G League Ignite but came down awkwardly and initially did not get up. He was eventually helped off the court and would not return.

The 21st overall pick had put forth a strong performance with the Clippers, tallying 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting prior to the injury. The effort followed a 24-point performance against the Ignite on Wednesday.

Johnson was with Agua Caliente after logging just one appearance with Los Angeles. The team will certainly be cautious and not rush him back into action too quickly if the injury is serious.

The Clippers will be hoping that isn’t the case after a strong debut by Johnson.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Keon Johnson to play for Clippers

UT basketball player Keon Johnson traded to Clippers after being drafted by Knicks.

Tennessee basketball player Keon Johnson will begin his NBA career with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Johnson, a guard, was selected in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft by the Knicks Thursday.

New York drafted Johnson with the No. 21 overall selection. Johnson was then traded to the Clippers in exchange for the No. 25 overall pick.

Johnson played for the Volunteers for one season. Last year, the Shelbyville, Tennessee native was selected to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team.

He averaged 11.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game for Tennessee during the 2020-21 campaign. He scored a career-high 27 points at Kentucky.

At the recent NBA draft combine, Johnson recorded a vertical leap of 48 inches, a combine record.

In high school, he was a two-time Tennessee Mr. Basketball, while playing for Webb School in Bell Buckle.

A roundup of NBA sleepers draft analysts are higher on than others

Who owns the most real estate on Davion Mitchell Island? Who is buying stock in Sharife Cooper?

Everyone loves Cade Cunningham. It’s not a hot take for an analyst to say that Cunningham is their favorite player in the class. That’s not particularly interesting to read, either.

But what is fascinating, however, is when an analyst deviates from the norm and ranks someone significantly higher than where the prospect falls in other rankings. What does that tell us about their individual scouting process and what they value? Further, what does that tell us about the potential draftee?

Some folks call it “buying stock” in a player. Others, like ESPN’s Zach Lowe or The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, call it owning real estate on a player’s island. I like to refer to it as a “draft crush” when I wind up higher than consensus in my evaluation of a player.

My process is ridiculously tedious but the results can be fairly useful. I’ve tracked the evolution of more than sixty unique mock drafts, big boards and draft models from trusted analysts and popular accounts on Twitter.

Each placement is assigned a value based on Kevin Pelton’s draft pick trade value chart. I do this because, as Pelton notes, the difference in relative value between the No. 5 overall pick and the No. 7 overall is much more stark than, say, that of the No. 45 pick and the No. 47 pick.

After composing an aggregate score based on each ranking, I can see where each analyst strays from the pack.

I’ll leave the conclusions drawn from these results up to the reader. But if nothing else, this can eventually be used as a bragging point if one writer was higher than consensus on a draftee who eventually ends up outperforming his draft position.

Final 2021 NBA Mock Draft: Latest intel, trade rumors and predicting all 60 picks

Wasn’t it just the 2020 NBA draft? How is the 2021 NBA draft already here? Crazy, maybe, but the league is about to have a ton of new faces.

Wasn’t it just the 2020 NBA draft? How is the 2021 NBA draft already here? Crazy, maybe, but the league is about to have a ton of new faces.

The names that you’re most likely to hear at the top are Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Evan Mobley. But the draft will start heating up once guys like Jalen Suggs, Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Kuminga start to find their new homes.

This draft will also be unique in that there will be fewer players in attendance than usual. According to one prospect who recently spoke to For The Win, due to COVID-19 restrictions, those not invited to the green room are not allowed to come to the stage and shake the hand of the commissioner as they have been in years past.

Regardless of who is actually in the building, however, it is certain to be an exciting and life-changing night for the next generation of NBA talent.

Based on conversations I’ve had with scouts around the league, and from reports and tea leaves left in other mock drafts from trusted draftniks, below is how I project the events will unfold at Barclays Center and on ESPN and ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET on July 29.