Austin Spurs guard Orlando Johnson is headed to the Valley of the Sun, as it was announced today that the Phoenix Suns have signed the D-League veteran to a 10-day contract.
With former Austin Spurs assistant coach Earl Watson promoted to interim head coach of the Suns recently, I figured it would only be a matter of time before he started taking a look at his former team for potential signings.
This season, Johnson has averaged 15.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from beyond the arc. He was also selected to play in the 2016 D-League All-Star game.
As I wrote for Hoops Spot recently, Johnson is a very underrated player in the D-League mostly because he plays for a team with a lot of talent, but he’s seemed like a perfect candidate for a call-up for quite a while now.
Johnson will wear number 0 for the Suns.
With Johnson off the roster for at least the next 10 days, the Spurs will look to Demetri McCamey for some help at shooting guard.
While undersized for the shooting guard position, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ken McDonald go to a lineup that features Keifer Sykes and Nick Johnson in the backcourt. He’s used a two point guard lineup as a coach for Western Kentucky so he hasn’t been afraid to mix it up before.
