San Antonio Spurs: Keldon Johnson picked for USA Select Team

Earlier today, it was announced that San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson was selected as one of 17 players to play with the USA Basketball Men's Select Team later this month. This selection comes in the wake of more or less of a breakout season for the young Spurs star, as he was also selected to the NBA's 2021 Rising Star roster during the 2021 All-Star break.

The Men's Select Team is composed of a 17-man roster that's made up of 13 young NBA standouts, including the likes of Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Miles Bridges, and Darius Garland; along with four veterans having prior USA Basketball experience.

Johnson and the rest of the team will train with and compete against Gregg Popovich and the USA Basketball Men's National Team in Las Vegas from July 6-9. The Men's National Team is currently headlined by several star players including Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, and others.

San Antonio Spurs' Johnson will gain valuable offseason experience

Coming off only his first full season in San Antonio, Johnson will have a full offseason to watch film, gain more insight on his game from the Spurs' coaching staff, and train to develop the weak spots in his game.

Given that the 2021 offseason will be the first full and/or healthy offseason for many of the Spurs' younger players, it's certainly possible that we'll see a significant performance jump from one or more of them next season. In fact, just earlier today, my colleague Cal Durrett wrote what he thinks should be Johnson's four primary goals this offseason to boost his chance to win the NBA's Most Improved Player award in the 2021-22 season.

Playing for the USA Men's Basketball Select Team will be a fantastic opportunity for Johnson this offseason. Not only will Johnson be able to compete against some of the NBA's most talented players, but he'll also have the opportunity to team up with some of the NBA's best young players, all while being coached by one of the league's best head coaches in Erik Spoelstra. Johnson himself already seems to be very excited about the opportunity.

Spurs fans ought to be very excited for Johnson in the coming weeks, and those of us here at Air Alamo will be wishing him well during his time in Las Vegas. The young Spurs star seems to be continuing to rack up impressive accolades, and we'll be expecting big things from him in the near future.