Spurs to Sign G League Standout Alize Johnson to 1-Year Deal
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The San Antonio Spurs have fully emerged as a tanking team following their 5-2 start to the season. After getting off to the second-best record through seven games, they've won a single game out of their next 14.
The Spurs will undoubtedly wait to make any major moves, but making tweaks on the margins of the roster is expected.
According to ESPN, the Spurs are signing Alize Johnson to a one-year deal and will waive Jordan Hall to create the necessary roster spot to do it.
Johnson has played for the Austin Spurs this season after participating in training camp in San Antonio. He's averaging 22.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in six performances in the G League.
It's difficult to see much for upside with Johnson considering he will be 27 in late April. From a big-picture standpoint, it makes the decision to waive a 20-year-old all the more confusing in order to make room for the transaction. However, there is some rationale from a more short-term look.
The Spurs have Keita Bates-Diop (ankle), Jakob Poeltl (quad), and Jeremy Sochan (quad) are all currently dealing with injuries. While it remains to be seen if they will miss Wednesday's game after having since Saturday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers to recover, having more depth makes sense.
Hall only appeared in nine games with the Spurs and received 9.2 minutes per game points per game with poor shooting splits. He will become an unrestricted free agent if he goes unclaimed on waivers.
The details of Johnson's contract remain to be seen, but it's likely to be a non-guaranteed deal to maintain flexibility. Johnson has spent no shortage of time being a stopgap option for teams needing dirty work specialists since being drafted in the second round by the Indiana Pacers in 2018.
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