Clippers sign No. 21 pick Keon Johnson to rookie contract

The Clippers have officially signed first-round pick Keon Johnson to his rookie contract, the team announced Friday.

Johnson was the No. 21 pick in last Thursday’s draft and was technically selected by the Knicks on behalf of the Clippers. New York and Los Angeles agreed to a draft-night deal that saw the Clips give up a future second-round pick to move up from No. 25 to No. 21 to secure Johnson.

A 6-foot-5 wing, Johnson spent a single season at Tennessee, averaging 11.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists on .449/.271/.703 shooting in 27 games (25.5 minutes).

Back in April, when he declared for the draft, he was listed as the No. 6 prospect on ESPN’s big board and was viewed as a probable lottery pick. However, he remains very raw, especially on the offensive end, and slipped a little as teams in the middle of the first round opted for safer picks.

Unless he signs for less than 120% of his rookie-scale amount, which is unlikely, Johnson will earn $2.55M in 2021-22, as our breakdown of rookie-scale salaries shows.