NBA Notes: Keldon Johnson’s Role, Latest on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Future

News, notes and observations as we count down the final days of the 2025–26 NBA regular season …

Exploring Keldon Johnson’s role with the Spurs

Mitch Johnson wanted to add something. It’s mid-March and Johnson was wrapping up an interview. He had talked about Victor Wembanyama, about De’Aaron Fox, about Stephon Castle. But Johnson wanted to say his piece about what he feels is an overlooked piece of San Antonio’s success: Keldon Johnson, the Spurs’ super sixth man.

“I can’t remember a player that embraced that transition from leading scorer to bench at the age that he is and on the same team,” says Mitch Johnson. “I can’t remember that ever happening. It’s just a reflection of his desire to want to win and to be here to do it.”

A leading reserve role was never something he envisioned, Keldon told me last week before San Antonio’s game against Denver. In fact, when then-coach Gregg Popovich suggested it years ago, he resisted. “I was definitely a little iffy about it,” says Johnson. Johnson was a starter his first three full seasons in San Antonio. In 2022–23, he led the Spurs in scoring. “I really had to look in the mirror and really see what I wanted to do,” says Johnson. “Do I want to be here? Do I want to be a part of something special?”

The answer: Yes. Johnson loves San Antonio. He owns a 22-acre ranch just outside the city, stocked with goats, chickens, cows and horses. And while it took him time to embrace his new role, Johnson has thrived in it. He’s averaging 13 points this season on 52% shooting, including 37% from three, numbers that have pushed Johnson to the top of the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year race. His impact on San Antonio’s success—60 wins and counting—has been measurable, says Mitch Johnson.

“The role embracement from him has been earlier than everybody else on this team,” says Mitch. “We asked him to embrace the role before the team was ready and was built for him to star in that role. For a young player to do that is almost unheard of.”

As Johnson has grown into the role, it has grown on him. “I like being the energy guy,” Johnson says. Rebounding, defense, diving for loose balls. Freed from the responsibility of a primary scorer, Johnson has found a variety of ways to impact winning.

“I feel like it just gives my team a different level and a different approach coming to the game,” says Johnson. “Knowing that when I’m on the bench and I’m accessing the game and I’m seeing what’s going on, I can get an idea of what we may need when I come in. And that means more than anything, knowing that my teammates depend on me for this role each and every night.”

Why Michael Malone took a college head coaching job

North Carolina’s hiring of Michael Malone sent a shock wave through the NBA. Malone will be well paid by North Carolina, reportedly earning north of $8 million, which would put him in the upper half of NBA coaches’ pay. But Malone, who was fired by the Nuggets last spring after nine-plus seasons, figured to be heavily involved in the upcoming coaching cycle. Instead, he’s off to North Carolina to coach in the college ranks for the first time.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Malones said at a news conference on Tuesday. “But what I kept thinking about was I have a chance to be a part of something special. The history, the tradition, to be a part of something much bigger than myself. This was the only college job I’d ever consider.

Former Nuggets coach Michael Malone will be the North Carolina head coach next season. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Sniff around a little and it makes more sense. Malone and his representatives probably had a pretty good read on what jobs might be open next week—and where Malone stood with the teams doing the hiring. Taking the Carolina job—and the fat salary that comes with it—is a pretty good fallback. According to Malone, it was a 10-day recruitment by North Carolina officials that culminated with a five-hour meeting in his home on Easter Sunday.

Will it work? North Carolina’s last attempt at hiring a pro coach has had mixed results. Malone was at best the third choice, after Tommy Lloyd and Billy Donovan. There’s no doubting Malone’s coaching acumen—he has the championship ring to support it—but college coaching is more than that. It’s recruiting (and sometimes re-recruiting), player development, the transfer portal. Malone will have plenty of support navigating the college landscape, but it could be a bumpy transition.

Will Giannis Antetokounmpo remain with the Bucks?

Add Bucks general manager Jon Horst to the list of people talking in Milwaukee. In the aftermath of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s latest round of interviews—which came weeks after Bucks owner Wes Edens gave a revealing interview with ESPN—Horst sat down with the team’s beat writers to address Giannis’s future.

The gist: It’s still unclear. Horst (publicly, anyway) has not abandoned convincing Antetokounmpo to sign an extension this summer. The Bucks, Horst noted, do have assets this summer in the form of first-round picks (three of which can be traded on draft night) and movable contracts. And he remains convinced that Antetokounmpo wants to be there.

“I trust and believe what Giannis has said and has been written: ‘I want to win, and if I can win in Milwaukee that’s where I want to be.’ You know?” said Horst. “Everything else is conversation, alignment, discussion … and that’s for him and that’s for us. But 100% believe that Giannis Antetokounmpo cares about winning and would love to win in Milwaukee. I believe that.”

We’ll see. Usually when there has been this much public airing of laundry a divorce is inevitable. But Horst has pulled rabbits out of his hat before and I do believe Antetokounmpo, if the Bucks can swing a deal to add another impact player, wants to stay in Milwaukee and likes his chances of competing in the Eastern Conference. Can Horst do it? Stay tuned.

Billy Donovan’s future in Chicago

Will Billy Donovan stick around in Chicago? That’s the question after a rather strange, 26-minute news conference by Bulls president and CEO Michael Reinsdorf, who fired top exec Artūras Karnišovas (along with general manager Marc Eversley), pulling the plug after a disappointing six-year run. Speaking to reporters, Reinsdorf made it clear that anyone interested in Chicago’s front office job needed to know that Donovan as head coach came with it.

“If we’re interviewing someone and they’re not sold on Billy, said Reinsdorf, listing Donovan’s achievements, “then they’re probably not the right candidate for us.”

Listen—Donovan is an excellent coach. But declaring that any incoming GM has to take him is idiotic, and probably shrinks the pool of candidates. Moreover, will Donovan even want to be there? In 2020, Donovan bolted Oklahoma City when the Thunder went into a rebuild. The Bulls are in the fledgling stages of their own. Donovan plans to meet with Reinsdorf on Monday, a source tells Sports Illustrated. The result of that meeting will shape the direction the team goes next.

Who will be Trail Blazers’ coach?

Speaking of owners, the Tom Dundon era officially began in Portland last week, with the NBA formally approving Dundon’s group as the new owners of the Trail Blazers. Dundon will try to push through public funding for renovations to the Moda Center—expected to be around $600 million—which will ease concerns about the Texas-based billionaire uprooting the team.

Who will coach the team is another question. Chauncey Billups, officially still the head coach, isn’t coming back. Tiago Splitter, who has done a credible job filling in for Billups this season, is a candidate to keep the job. Dundon, I’m told, has been intrigued by the college coaching landscape. Something to keep in mind as the Blazers’ season winds down.

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