Now that the San Antonio Spurs are officially closer to the 13th seed than the playoff picture, it’s time to let rookie Keldon Johnson have a chance.

Historically, the modern-era San Antonio Spurs don’t let their young guys get much of a chance until they’ve paid their dues. With one of the strongest development regimens in the league and an uber-competitive G-League team, the Spurs always seem to find diamonds in the rough and prepare their prospects for top-level competition before actually inserting them to the lineup.

With that said, times have changed and a playoff bid is no longer a lock, let alone even a strong possibility at this point. According to FiveThirtyEight.com, the Spurs have less than a one percent chance of making the playoffs at this point at 22-31, nearly a double-digit differential between wins and losses.

This grim outlook has some silver and black lining though, as the Spurs drafted three quality rookies in the 2019 NBA Draft including one player whose potential to crack the rotation and make a difference early in his career stands out amongst the pack.

Originally projected to go in the lottery, Kentucky wing Keldon Johnson was just selected to the Western Conference Mid-Season All-G-League team for his stellar play through the first portion of this season. At only 20-years-old, Johnson is averaging a team-high 20.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists on 52.3 percent shooting from the field.

Johnson is one of the grittiest players in his class, attacking each opportunity like it’s his last in pursuit of what projects to be a superb career as a pro. His all-around skill set and high motor made him one of storied head coach John Calipari’s favorite players, which led to a nod from Spurs dynasty architect Gregg Popovich and Spurs CEO R.C. Buford this past summer.

San Antonio is playing for pride at this point, and while Pop remains stuck in his ways for the moment, soon it’ll be undeniable that the Spurs are playing for development in the main league instead of relegating that to the Austin Spurs during the regular season.