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NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets guard Keon Johnson is coming off the best season of his NBA career as the Nets put him in a position to show everything that he could do. As a result, Johnson not played the most minutes that he's played in a season by far, but he displayed why he was a first-round pick a few years ago as he had his eyes opened this year in Brooklyn.
"It was a big eye opener for me. Just how I got to attack this off season, but it was a great opportunity for me to get out and kind of reinvent myself," Johnson said during his exit interview on Monday. Johnson came into the season with the expectation of backing up starting shooting guard Cam Thomas, but with Thomas playing just 25 games, Johnson found himself in a position to see as many minutes as he could handle for head coach Jordi Fernandez.
"Just coming off of a year where I was in the G League and being able to show how I can compete and play at a high level in the NBA," Johnson continued. "Just being more consistent on the defensive end and just taking the challenge more of guarding (the other) team's best player. But, also trying to stay focused on what we're trying to do game in and game out."
Johnson, 23, is coming off a season in which he averaged 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 38.9% from the field and 31.4% from three-point land. Johnson, similar to most of his teammates, compiled career-highs in nearly every one of his statistical categories as he saw more playing time and responsibility as a ball-handler for this Nets team.
Johnson is under contract next season for $2.3 million so it seems like the Nets will be hoping that he can take another step next year when the team is presumably healthier than it was this campaign. However, with Brooklyn heading into arguably the biggest offseason in the franchise's history due to the rebuilding nature of the organization, but it sounds like Johnson is focused on improving his game before worrying about the rest.
"On the offensive end, being able to keep my reads simple, but just make those reads at a higher level and pretty much stay consistent," Johnson said when explaining what he has to work on this summer. "Coach Jordi does a great job of just keeping that confidence poured into us. Even right now going leading into the offseason, he has told me that he's happy with the way that I performed this year, but he wants to see me take it to a higher level."
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Keon Johnson discusses 'eye-opening' season in Brooklyn
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