Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard
SF, 6’7, 230lbs, 25 years old, 6 years of experience

It is hard to think back to the time when Leonard came in to the league as an athletic, hustling, undersized power forward with little ball skills, when the player we see now plays like some weird yet beautiful mash-up of Jordan and Pippen. Leonard makes improvements to his game every year, big improvements, but perhaps none more so than this past one, when he became the primary ball-handler and playmaker, shooting up to a 31.1% usage rate. He didn’t even go above 27.6% in college. In becoming a half-court, dribble-driving, contact-taking star, Leonard has somehow not lost a shred of defence to do it. Rather than rounding out his game, he has transformed it. If he’s not the best player in the league, he nearly is, and while such distinctions matter only from a point of pride for the various parties involved, the fact that it is even possible here is stunning.

Player Plan: Three years and circa. $60.3 million remaining, with a player option in the final year. Impossibly good.

Pick 15: Indiana takes Kawhi Leonard from San Diego State, the discussion for whom is immediately focused on his hands. After his rather pernickety analysis of Tristan Thompson's feet earlier, Bilas is straight in there with a comment about the size of these hands, which admittedly are freaking enormous. It is the first clip in his montage, too, so magnetic are these things. When the NBA draft degenerates into a series of biological field notes and quick games of "Look at the weird thing!", that's when it truly shines.

It also shines when confronted by a high quality suit, and Leonard does not disappoint.




Leonard's answer to Mark Jones's question is hereby quoted verbatim:

"You know, it means a lot. Just being at San Diego State, the coaching staff, coach Fisher, all my team mates, just helped me as well, and I thank God for putting me in this situation."

Short of a reference to "playing hard," Leonard has achieved the most template answer possible.

Stu Scott informs us that Kawhi's mother will move to Indianapolis to be near her son, now a Pacer. Hold that thought, Ma'am - even though ESPN's broadcast does not get to the news for about half an hour, the internet is already running the news that Leonard will instead be traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for George Hill. Within a week of trying to move Tony Parker to get into the lottery, the Spurs instead move his backup and get into the first pick immediately after the lottery, an immeasurably better deal. Indiana, meanwhile, gives up a player who would otherwise have been something of a steal, purely so that they can get a backup point guard. Hill is a solid, talented and entertaining two-way player, but he's also a backup point guard. You can get other backup point guards. Apparently they didn't want to.

Kawhi Leonard - Leonard's best attribute is his physical profile. He measures out at 6'7, which is pretty average, yet he has a 7'3 wingspan with that, and hands the size of small digger scoops. This hand size is best demonstrated by this startling picture, in which Leonard's hand is held up next to that of Holly Mackenzie. It is possible that Kawhi has normal hands and that Holly is instead a legal midget, but I am assured this is not the case.

Leonard was blazing his way up the draft boards, but has started falling during the individual workout phase (a phase which seems to be valued far more highly than the simple fact of how players have played in every game of their career to date). He is the pound for pound best rebounder in the class, averaging 10.6 of those puppies in 32 minutes per game, further contributing 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.6 blocks and a healthy 15.5 points per game. Shot creation, finishing and indeed offensive in general is not a strong suit - he is neither a ball handler not a dribbler, more of a putback-er and an opportunity scorer-er. He is tough, aggressive, fearless and versatile defensively, his Mr Tickle-like arms being an incredibly difficult object to navigate around on the perimeter. Even if he never develops the ability to handle in traffic, or shoot off the dribble, or create anything out of the post, he won't need to to be effective.