The San Antonio Spurs are the second best team in the western conference as well as the NBA by record standings (36-8). It shouldn't be much of a surprise to basketball fans. The Spurs have a history of being a winning organization for nearly the past two decades. Coach Gregg Popovich is one of the most respected head coaches in professional sports. Not because of his dry interviews that he does with the media or because he's known for sitting his star players during big games. None of those things are what makes him so well respected. Coach Popovich has a history of drafting or acquiring very good talent and making them great in his system or he'll get great players and get them to buy-in to his system even if it means hurting their own personal numbers... i.e. Laacmarcus Aldridge... and he makes his team a contender year-after-year. And four years ago, coach Popovich did it again...
Kawhi Leonard was drafted in 2011, with the no.15 overall pick, by the Indiana Pacers. Soon after they would trade Leonard to the Spurs for the young, long guard George Hill. This trade happened because reportedly the Pacers wanted a scoring guard and couldn't get the player they wanted in the draft, originally.
Looking back at the 2011 draft, there are four players drafted before Leonard that have now played for more than two teams in just five years. Those players are:
- Derrick Williams - Drafted no.2 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. After a slow start to his career in Minnesota he would be traded to Sacramento and he was recently signed this offseason to the New York Knicks.
- Jan Vesely - Vesely was drafted with the no.6 overall pick to the Washington Wizards and after a very lack luster two-year stint with the Wizards, Vesely was traded during the 2013-14 season to the Denver Nuggets. Vesely is no longer in the NBA after only four years.
- Jimmer Fredette - Drafted no.10 by the Milwaukee Bucks and traded to the Sacramento Kings soon after, Fredette was suppose to be the next big scoring guard in the league. He was known for his incredible ability to shoot the ball in college. I guess this didn't translate very well to the NBA level. Fredette was only in Sacramento until the middle of the 2013-14 season, he found himself on the Bulls' roster by that seasons end. Currently, he is on the Pelicans roster, and has now appeared in 54 games for them in the past two seasons.
- Marcus Morris - After such a good college run alongside his twin brother Markieff, at Kansas, Morris would be drafted no.14 to the Houston Rockets - one selection before Leonard - and things in H-Town weren't so great for him. It was reported that he didn't get along with the coaching staff, he was an inconsistent player and his minutes and numbers reflect that. Morris was traded after just two years with the Rockets to Phoenix and would, once again, be reunited with his brother and he would spend three years there. His numbers in Phoenix had improved from Houston but he still found himself coming off the bench. Morris was traded before the start of the season to the Detroit Pistons and he looks like he's found a team that could stick. Morris has started all 40 games for the Pistons this season and all of his averages have improved.
In four years he [Leonard] has seen an improvement in most of his averages. In 2011 he averaged 7.9 ppg and in five years he's seen averaging 20 ppg, that's an increase of 12 in just five years. And what I find most impressive is how he's been scoring over the years. Coming out of San Diego State he wasn't known for being a dominant scorer but for his hustle, strong basketball knowledge, long frame and freakishly large hands that made him a good defender.Since being in the league, he has been a very consistent scorer and improved shooter. Sounds funny, right? Well. Through his career, thus far, Leonard has averaged just around 50 percent from the field ... His averages from the three-point line have been much lower. His first three seasons he averaged just around 38 percent, last season (2014) he saw that average drop to 35 percent, and this season he's averaging 48 percent ... this tells me a lot about both Leonard and the team. 1) He has very good shot selection and if you factor out the three-point shooting of his first three season's he would be shooting nearly 55 percent overall. 2) Obviously, over the years, his shot attempts have grown. With a team that has three future hall of fame players, maybe four, they allow Kawhi to be the key/main piece to the offense. That speaks volumes of what the coach thinks of him and the other players on the team as well.
He is such a special player because he's a great player on both ends of the court. He's the reigning defensive player of the year. He's the first player to win that award that wasn't a center or Power Foward since 2004 when Ron Artest now known as Metta World Peace. Leonard currently leads the team in scoring and steals.
Kawhi Leonard was built to play with the Spurs. He isn't a flashy player, not outspoken, he's willing to play any role on the team, and he has a reputation of being a gym rat. People first started to talk about him after doing a great job of defending LeBron James, the leagues best player, in the 2014 NBA finals. Now, LeBron still performed well but it was clear that Leonard would give him a lot of problems with his defense. Also, Leonard would help the Spurs defeat James and the Miami Heat in just five games to be crowned the NBA Champions, while walking away with the finals MVP as well.
Leonard has shown a lot of growth through four full years in the NBA and has been playing great, so far this season. And I believe this season, we are seeing the changing of powers on the Spurs. Forward, Tim Duncan has been the team leader for nearly two decades. And now I think he's finally ready to pass the torch.
The Spurs and Leonard aren't getting as much recognition as the Golden State Warriors, who hold the leagues best record currently. But, I think they prefer it that way.
stats c/o ESPN & NBA.com
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