Achilles adviser

The Rockets, like the Spurs before them, had no choice. The situation had become untenable, and everybody knew it, so they were forced to sell their most valuable asset for magic beans.

They received many more beans than the Spurs did, and there were good reasons for that. For one thing, Houston’s trading partners had proof that James Harden’s appendages all worked. Two and a half years ago, Kawhi Leonard provided no such assurances, and offered no promise to produce any.

So the Spurs took what they could get, and that » Rudy Gay has counseled others after injury.

All the drama in Houston didn’t go unnoticed by the Spurs while they were on their recent five-game road trip.

“What they have been going through is very public,” Spurs forward Rudy Gay said of the Rockets at shootaround Thursday morning.

But he said it was also none of the Spurs’ business.

“What is going on there is between them and their players, but we win,” Gay said.

They didn’t get it. Leading by nine points with 4:39 left, the Spurs faltered down the stretch and wasted Keldon Johnson’s career-high 29 points in losing 109-105 to the in-flux, shorthanded Rockets on Thursday night in a nationally televised game at the AT&T Center.

Fresh off a 4-1 road trip that started with back-toback wins in Los Angeles over the Clippers and the deneed this

turned out to be a 28-yearold All-star castoff, a role player with potential, and a draft pick. This week, the Rockets ended up with much the same package, but with what could become as many as eight first-round selections instead of one.

In terms of magic beans, it was quite a haul.

And when it comes time to plant them?

Houston would do well if any of them sprouts the way Keldon Johnson has.

Now, this praise still qualifies as premature, and perhaps awkwardly timed after the baggagefree Rockets rallied to beat Johnson’s Spurs 109-105 at the AT&T Center on Thursday. But in case you haven’t noticed, San Antonio’s trade haul for Leonard is looking better every week, and it’s primarily because of the one piece that wasn’t named in 2018.

Eleven months after that trade, the Spurs used their one magic bean to take a baby-faced, grown-bodied teenager who’d been overshadowed by a couple of hyped classmates at Kentucky. Now the kid selected with the 29th pick looks like one of the most promising stars from the 2019 draft, and on Thursday Houston got an up-close glimpse at all of the reasons why.

Like always, Johnson defended. Like always, Johnson rebounded. And like other nights that are becoming more and more common, Johnson unleashed an offensive repertoire that might not look like the version of Leonard the Spurs traded away, but sure resembled a rough starter kit.

Obviously, that’s an unfair comparison for a 21-year-old who was starting only his 13th NBA game Thursday night. But Johnson can shoot, he can create his own shot, and he can get to the rim with power and force that routinely takes more experienced players by surprise.

Johnson bullied and swished and dunked his way to a career-high 29 points against the Rockets. And even though it went for naught, three plays down the stretch illustrated why the Spurs still believe their Leonard swap might work out after all.

Desperate for a bucket with just over a minute to play, they gave the ball to Johnson on the left wing and watched him break down his defender and draw four other Rockets into the paint before scooping the ball softly over the front of the rim.

Later, just as desperate for a stop, the Spurs assigned their second-year forward to Houston’s 6-10 center, Christian Wood, who’d lit them up for 27 points. Wood tried to go right at the shorter defender. He couldn’t get by, and turned the ball over.

On Houston’s next possession, Johnson guarded the point guard, Sterling Brown, instead. Facing similar resistance on his drive, Brown hurled the ball all the way over the backboard.

Neither of those plays mattered in the end, but they would have if Demar Derozan’s final jumper hadn’t rimmed out. And more encouragingly for the Spurs, they followed a trend of Johnson declining to cower from tough assignments.

So far this season, he’s been matched up against Pascal Siakam, Zion Williamson and Lebron James. Each had their moments, and their bit of success against the guy Gregg Popovich calls a “mustang,” but none exactly enjoyed the experience.

It helps, of course, that he’s had plenty of help, Thursday night notwithstanding. There have been moments in the past few weeks when the Spurs have been just as enthused by what they’ve seen in spurts from Lonnie Walker, and from Dejounte Murray, and from Derrick White in his short-lived return from injury, and even from Devin Vassell.

But if they hope to be what they were before the Leonard trade — a true contender — they’ll need one of those youngsters to become a true star. And while each of them provides varying degrees of optimism in that area, you don’t have to squint quite as hard to see it with Johnson.

Unlike some of the others, Johnson looked like he belonged right away. He ended his rookie campaign in the bubble with three 20-plus-point outings in his last five games, and he’s begun his second season as a legitimate two-way dynamo.

The good news for Houston? Having received four first-round picks and the rights to four other first-round pick swaps in the Harden trade, the Rockets might get eight chances to find someone better.

But for now?

The way the Spurs see it, a single magic bean can work out pretty well, too.