September 11: Two-and-a-half months after his agreement was first reported, Johnson has officially signed with the Hawks, the team announced in a press release. It’s an Exhibit 10 deal, confirms Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).
June 27: The Hawks have agreed to a deal with UCLA forward Kobe Johnson, Jonathon Givony reports for ESPN (via Twitter).
Johnson played for three years at USC, emerging as a starter and a defensive force after averaging just 7.5 minutes per game as a freshman. He subsequently transferred to UCLA for his senior year.
In his lone year as a Bruin, Johnson averaged 7.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.6 steals while shooting 36.2% from three and earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Defensive team, his third consecutive selection to his conference’s All-Defensive team. While his three-point shot has been up-and-down, Johnson is a career 76.7% free-throw shooter, which offers some hope for him finding eventual shooting consistency.
While Givony doesn’t specify the terms of the agreement, it will likely be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract for Johnson. Exhibit 10 deals can be converted into two-way contracts, though the Hawks have already reached two-way agreements with Eli John Ndiaye and Kentucky’s Lamont Butler to two-way contracts.
An Exhibit 10 deal would also put Johnson on track to join the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ G League team, as an affiliate player once the season begins.