In this continuing series, Thunder Wire assigns three goals to each of the 21 players, per Spotrac, that make up the Oklahoma City Thunder roster.
The Thunder’s season kicks off on Oct. 25 against the Chicago Bulls. After a surprising 40-42 campaign that ended a win shy of the playoffs, OKC enters this year with playoff aspirations.
Buy Thunder TicketsLet’s assign three goals for Keyontae Johnson. The second-round rookie will enter the season on a two-way deal, which means he’ll be limited to the amount of games he can play until he’s converted to a standard deal.
Until then, he’ll likely get most of his actual playing time with the OKC Blue.
Dominate G League
Johnson will likely spend most of his season with the G League’s OKC Blue. The second-round rookie is buried on the depth chart and his two-way deal limits him to 50 NBA games.
Johnson will likely spend long stretches with the Blue, which means he should get plenty of opportunities to take advantage of playing against inferior talent and working on his game.
If he does that, then there’s certainly a blueprint where he’s playing key minutes for the Thunder late in the season.
Convert to a standard NBA contract
The Thunder signed Johnson to a two-way deal with the hope of eventually converting him to a standard NBA contract.
There’s certainly a precedent set with this plan in OKC as recent second-round picks and undrafted rookies like Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins followed similar routes.
Under the two-way deal, Johnson is limited to 50 NBA games. But when/if he gets converted, that limit will be removed. He will need to prove to the Thunder why they should convert him with his play in the G League and how he meshes with the rest of the roster.
Translate 3-point shooting
One of the aspects of Johnson’s game that made him attractive in the draft process is his outside shooting.
The 23-year-old was always a decent 3-point shooter throughout his college career, but he amped that up in his final season when he shot 40.5% from 3 on 3.2 attempts at Kansas State.
Even though he’s a bit undersized as a forward and center, if Johnson can translate that type of outside shooting to the NBA, then there’s definitely a place for him in the league.
