The Spurs should seriously consider selling high on Keldon Johnson

Keldon Johnson's time with the Spurs may have run its course at the oddest time, but that should be to San Antonio's benefit. The former Kentucky Wildcat just set the franchise's all-time bench-scoring record last season, dropping 1,081 points off the pine to blow past Manu Ginobili's 927 from 2007-08.

It earned him the Sixth Man of the Year trophy in April, but five weeks later, he was logging 15 minutes a night and shooting 35% in an NBA Finals loss to enlarged apple enthusiasts. It was a "two things can be true" situation that should have confirmed the end of his Alamo City chapter while simultaneously intriguing possible suitors, and San Antonio needs to find one of them.

Keldon Johnson wasn't perfect but he wasn't the Spurs' problem

Johnson's playoff run was uneven, not disastrous. He was quiet against Portland in the first round but found his rhythm against Minnesota in the second, which included a 21-point night shooting 8/11 from the field.

He stayed fairly productive through a grueling seven-game conference finals against Oklahoma City. The Finals is where it fell apart, and some of that was matchups and role, not just KJ going cold.

Timing is the real issue here, though. Julian Champagnie's shooting is too valuable, and Carter Bryant's ceiling is too high to withhold minutes from them. Now Tobias Harris is here, sending a pretty loud message about what the Silver and Black think they're missing at forward.

With a crowded wing rotation, Johnson isn't likely to get much run early in the season to rebuild his stock before the February trade deadline. If his value is going to keep shrinking the longer this plays out, the front office doesn't have the luxury of waiting around to see how it sorts itself out.

Letting Johnson walk for nothing can't be the plan

We've already watched the front office let a player walk out the door for nothing, but that situation was much different. Jeremy Sochan had no role left, no trade value, and had barely sniffed the hardwood by the time SA released him. But the ending still stings a little because Sochan was a lottery pick that feels wasted now.

Keldon Johnson is not Sochan. He's the reigning 6MOY, a proven bucket-getter who can help a few playoff teams and several other ball clubs that need what he provides. Letting that kind of value evaporate because the powers that be can't make a decision would be an entirely different situation.

The reality is his role has been shrinking, and that's likely to continue. Letting Sochan go was reasonable. There was nothing left to sell. KJ doesn't fall into that category, so let's get something for him before it's too late.

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