Sources: Westbrook weighing options after trade

The San Antonio Spurs announced that the organization has named Mitch Johnson as the team’s new head coach.

Johnson becomes the 19th head coach in San Antonio franchise history. He takes over for Gregg Popovich after the Hall of Famer transitioned into the president of basketball operations role following his 29 seasons as head coach. After Popovich stepped away from the team for health reasons five games into last year, Johnson was appointed the Spurs acting head coach for the remaining 77 games of the 2024-25 season.

“We are thrilled for Mitch Johnson to be our next head coach,” said Spurs Managing Partner Peter J. Holt. “Throughout his decade in the organization we have seen that Mitch has the right values, poise and potential to lead us into the future.”

Entering his 10th season with the Spurs, Johnson started with the organization in 2016 as an assistant coach for the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, where he helped guide the team to the 2018 G League Championship. He has spent the last six seasons as an assistant coach on Popovich’s staff, including five of those years on the front of the bench after he was promoted in 2020.

Prior to joining the Spurs, Johnson spent one season as an assistant at the University of Portland in 2015-16 after coaching in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. He played collegiately at Stanford University as a four-year starter with Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez and Landry Fields, before spending three seasons in the G League and overseas in Europe. Johnson is the son of 12-year NBA veteran John Johnson and has four children – Tasia, Tatum, Johnnie and Jameson – with his wife, Jessica.

“I am truly grateful and honored to receive this incredible opportunity,” said Johnson. “I am thankful for Coach Pop, RC, Brian and Peter trusting me to carry on our culture and I promise to give this responsibility everything I have to make Spurs fans proud.”

Julius Randle addressed the media on Thursday for the first time since he was traded by the New York Knicks to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Randle joined the Knicks ahead of the 19-20 season and helped turn around the franchise.

“You want to be somewhere where you feel wanted. I feel wanted here,” Randle said Thursday. “At this point in my career, I’ve accomplished a lot of great things on an individual level, but I want to win a championship. This is a perfect opportunity to do that.”

Randle will help the Wolves replace Karl-Anthony Towns as he potentially enters a free agent offseason.

“It was a breath of fresh air,” Randle said about the trade. “I’m excited to bring everything I’ve learned here over the past five years and help these guys out. My only thing here is I just want to help.

“I want to help [Anthony Edwards]. I want to help Rudy [Gobert], Naz [Reid] — all those guys. I want to help win a championship, and that’s the only thing that matters.”