Spurs’ Keldon Johnson switches to No. 0, allowing Chris Paul to remain No. 3

Seeing Chris Paul in a jersey other than No. 3 — he is CP3, after all — would have been weird.

It turns out that’s not happening in San Antonio. Keldon Johnson has worn No. 3 during his five years with the franchise, but he posted a picture of himself on Instagram wearing Spurs uniform No. 0 — he switched for this upcoming season.

That means the No. 3 uniform is open for Chris Paul.

It’s not known if Paul paid Johnson for the number or gave him some kind of gift, but that is not uncommon around the NBA. Johnson said previously that part of the reason he wore No. 3 was he looked up to Paul, who had worn No. 3 at every one of his stops during his 19-year, Hall-of-Fame NBA career.

Paul coming to San Antonio to help organize the Spurs offense, get Victor Wembanyama the ball in better positions, and to mentor young players like Johnson and rookie guard Stephen Castle. It was one of the better pickups of the offseason. It’s possible the Spurs will trade CP3 at the February deadline, but that’s still a lot of time for Paul to work with Gregg Popovich and put his stamp on this team.