deibero
06-23-2011, 10:16 PM
Projection Charlotte Bobcats
(No. 9 Pick)
Positives
Explosive leaper
Freakishly long arms
Good, developing body
Incredible motor
Excellent rebounder
Developing offensive player
Negatives
A bit of a tweener
Lacks great lateral quickness
Needs to improve perimeter game
Can disappear in games
Notes
Leonard has declared for the 2011 NBA Draft. He will hire an agent, ending his college eligibility.
June 7 Update: Leonard started working out for the first time on Sunday. He had an excellent workout in Charlotte against a number of top forwards including Jordan Hamilton, Chris Singleton and Tobias Harris.
His next big test comes on Tuesday in Washington with the Wizards. Leonard is a guy the Wizards are looking at very closely with the sixth pick in the draft. A great workout there could seal the deal.
He also has an intriguing workout next week with the Cavs. While No. 4 seems high for Leonard, don't totally discount it. One Cavs source says he's in the mix. He fits a need, can play right now and still has upside.
May 28 Update: Leonard tested poorly in Chicago. He had a 32-inch maximum vertical. He had a subpar 11.45 second lane agility drill. He bench pressed 185 pounds three times. Those aren't great numbers for a 6-7 swingman with a reputation as a great athlete.
While Leonard was never regarded as the most explosive athlete in the draft, it's hard, if you watched him at San Diego State, to come to the conclusion that he's a below-average athlete. Leonard plays an athletic game on both ends of the floor. He's not Shawn Marion, but he's not less athletic than Kevin Love. No way.
Kevin Durant also struggled in this setting and much was made about it before the draft. If you watched his highlight reel dunk against the Mavs this week, it's pretty hard to make the argument he's a poor athlete.
One theory about Leonard's poor testing is that he did not warm up prior to doing the test. Because Leonard skipped drills, he sat in a freezing gym (and it was freezing) for an hour and then went straight to the tests. I saw this happen and we commented on it when we were broadcasting the combine. Everyone else had gotten 45 minutes of drill work in to loosen up. It makes a difference.
May 26 Update: In a bit of a surprise, Leonard measured only a 32-inch vertical and could bench the 185-pound bar only three times.
May 23 Update: Leonard skipped the NBA draft combine drills on Thursday and Friday, but decided on Friday morning to put on a shooting show for NBA executives as they walked in the gym. As I reported last week, Leonard has been working on his jump shot and was shooting very well in Vegas. He also shot the ball well in the brief 15 minutes or so before the combine began and had quite a crowd of NBA GMs and execs watching closely.
His measurements (7-3 wingspan and 8-10 standing reach) were good enough as well to make him a plausible (though slightly undersized) NBA power forward. He measured bigger than Blake Griffin and on par with Kevin Love. So even if the shooting thing doesn't work out, his rebounding prowess and motor might allow him to make a living at the 4.
May 12 Update: Kawhi Leonard is a big-time prospect. The San Diego State forward remains a bit of an enigma to NBA scouts. He ranked as just the 56th-best high school prospect in the class of 2009 by ESPNU and didn't really come on until his senior year in high school.
As a freshman he drew raves for his athletic ability, motor and rebounding, but scouts struggled to see exactly how he fit at the next level. Last season he helped lead the Aztecs to one of the best records in college basketball and drew serious attention from scouts. But after the season, the NBA was still largely split on what his pro potential was.
While we had Leonard in the top 14 of our Big Board most of the year, a number of NBA executives were much more pessimistic about his future. They pointed to his "tweener" status and subpar perimeter shooting as concerns. A few weeks ago, one GM told me he thought Leonard was, at best, a role player at the next level.
I respectfully disagree, as do a handful of NBA execs and scouts. I was blown away by Leonard at the workouts. Not only is his physical profile impressive (huge hands, long wing span, NBA body), but also he's much more skilled than your typical high-energy forward.
Leonard has been working on his jump shot since the season ended and was stroking it from NBA 3-point range the two days I was in the gym. And he demonstrated excellent ball-handling skills for a player his size -- both are prerequisites for an NBA small forward. He also has the ability to guard the 2, 3 and 4 at the next level.
Leonard proved to be a real gym rat as well. He was the first guy in the gym and the last one to leave both days I was there. On Tuesday I arrived at 9 a.m. and left at 5:30 -- Leonard was there the whole time working on various things; he must have shot 1,000 jumpers.
I've been trying to find a good NBA comp for him all year, and I think the best may be the Blazers' Gerald Wallace. Leonard has the same type of motor and toughness and is more skilled than you think. If he keeps shooting the ball like he did Tuesday and Wednesday, I believe he could end up being a top-5 pick in the draft. We've moved him up to No. 5 on our Big Board after seeing what he brings to the table.
He may not be a superstar at the next level, but it's hard to figure how he misses as a 10-year NBA player with that work ethic, physical profile and motor.
Apr 14 Update: Leonard has declared for the 2011 NBA Draft. Leonard is one of the most unique players in the country. He can play both the three and the four thanks to long arms, excellent athleticism and a great motor. He's a terrific rebounder as well. He doesn't have a polished offensive game yet, but there's a lot of potential there. He could be a Shawn Marion-type player. A likely lottery pick.
Mar 15 Update: The Good: A long, athletic forward with huge hands, a great motor and the ability to score from just about everywhere. He's a great rebounder too.
The Bad: Another player without a well-defined position. Ideally he'd be a few inches taller. He's not a great shooter yet. Can disappear sometimes in big games.
The Upside: Last year we had Leonard listed as a sleeper. Now that he plays on the No. 6 team in the country, that sort of talk has died down. But now the expectations may be almost too high for him. He's still developing his game offensively, but when you watch him, it's hard not to see what makes him special. NBA scouts love guys with intangibles, and Leonard appears to have them.
Jan 27 Update: San Diego State's Kawhi Leonard had a terrific game in the first loss to BYU, scoring 22 points and grabbing 15 boards despite the fact that he was battling the stomach flu and throwing up just 90 minutes before the game. More and more scouts are referring to him as a lottery pick, perhaps a top-10 pick by draft night.
Jan 18 Update: Last season, Leonard was one of the better kept secrets in college basketball. When we first wrote about him in early March, only a handful of GMs had given him a careful look. That's changed this season. Every team in the league has been out to scout Leonard multiple times, and that San Diego State is ranked No. 6 and remains one of the few unbeaten teams in the country doesn't hurt.
Despite such high expectations, Leonard has delivered. He's averaging 16 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game and has really wowed teams with his energy, athleticism and versatility. Scouts have regularly compared him to a young Shawn Marion.
Like Marion, Leonard is a bit of a hybrid forward. He is a big-time athlete and has a huge wingspan and freakishly big hands. He has an emerging offensive game and jump shot and can defend multiple positions on the floor. Last year, scouts were calling him a tweener. This year, they're calling him versatile.
"He's really improved," one veteran scout said. "Last year, he was getting by almost exclusively on his length and athleticism. This year, you can tell he's really starting to get it at both ends of the floor. He's still a work in progress, but when you play with that intensity and have those physical tools, you're likely going to succeed in our league."
We've moved Leonard into the teens on our Big Board for the first time, and it's not out of the question that he ends up as a late lottery pick if he continues to help San Diego State win.
Jan 4 Update: Who is the most underrated on our draft board? Again, there wasn't a ton of consensus here. San Diego State small forward Kawhi Leonard got the most votes, followed by Kansas power forwards Thomas Robinson and Markieff Morris, plus center Lucas Nogueira of Brazil.
Leonard doesn't fit the traditional mold, but he's been super-productive on one of the few undefeated teams left in college basketball. Every scout who has watched him this season has walked away impressed. A number of them claim he could be a lottery pick.
Nov 2 Update: Leonard was the Mountain West Rookie of the Year and the MVP of the MWC tournament last season. He is another athletic freak with long arms, endless energy and a knack for crashing the boards. Like Kenneth Faried's, his game is relentless.
He, too, is a bit undersized for his position and has yet to show much of a skilled offensive game. He's still relying on pure athleticism and motor. Scouts have some worries about what position he'll play in the pros, but overall they think he'll find a way to contribute.
Another big season for Leonard, especially on the offensive end, could push him up 10 spots higher on our draft board.
Mar 16 Update: The Good: Leonard is a beast in the paint. The superathletic, freakishly long forward cleans up down low. He is an elite rebounder and has huge hands. He's got a motor that runs nonstop and he's tough to slow down. He also is fairly impressive facing the basket.
The Bad: He's a bit of a tweener. He's undersized to be a 4 and lacks the lateral quickness to guard 3s.
The Upside: Expect the tournament to be Leonard's coming-out party. If NBA GMs weren't paying attention before, they will be. His combination of physical tools and hustle make him an unusual prospect. Not only is he a potential first-round pick this year, he could be a lottery pick with another year of seasoning.
Mar 15 Update: Leonard is a beast in the paint. The superathletic, freakishly long forward cleans up down low. He is an elite rebounder and has huge hands. He's got a motor that runs nonstop and he's tough to slow down. He also is fairly impressive facing the basket.
He's a bit of a tweener. He's undersized to be a 4 and lacks the lateral quickness to guard 3s.
Expect the tournament to be Leonard's coming-out party. If NBA GMs weren't paying attention before, they will be. His combination of physical tools and hustle make him an unusual prospect. Not only is he a potential first-round pick this year, he could be a lottery pick with another year of seasoning.
(No. 9 Pick)
Positives
Explosive leaper
Freakishly long arms
Good, developing body
Incredible motor
Excellent rebounder
Developing offensive player
Negatives
A bit of a tweener
Lacks great lateral quickness
Needs to improve perimeter game
Can disappear in games
Notes
Leonard has declared for the 2011 NBA Draft. He will hire an agent, ending his college eligibility.
June 7 Update: Leonard started working out for the first time on Sunday. He had an excellent workout in Charlotte against a number of top forwards including Jordan Hamilton, Chris Singleton and Tobias Harris.
His next big test comes on Tuesday in Washington with the Wizards. Leonard is a guy the Wizards are looking at very closely with the sixth pick in the draft. A great workout there could seal the deal.
He also has an intriguing workout next week with the Cavs. While No. 4 seems high for Leonard, don't totally discount it. One Cavs source says he's in the mix. He fits a need, can play right now and still has upside.
May 28 Update: Leonard tested poorly in Chicago. He had a 32-inch maximum vertical. He had a subpar 11.45 second lane agility drill. He bench pressed 185 pounds three times. Those aren't great numbers for a 6-7 swingman with a reputation as a great athlete.
While Leonard was never regarded as the most explosive athlete in the draft, it's hard, if you watched him at San Diego State, to come to the conclusion that he's a below-average athlete. Leonard plays an athletic game on both ends of the floor. He's not Shawn Marion, but he's not less athletic than Kevin Love. No way.
Kevin Durant also struggled in this setting and much was made about it before the draft. If you watched his highlight reel dunk against the Mavs this week, it's pretty hard to make the argument he's a poor athlete.
One theory about Leonard's poor testing is that he did not warm up prior to doing the test. Because Leonard skipped drills, he sat in a freezing gym (and it was freezing) for an hour and then went straight to the tests. I saw this happen and we commented on it when we were broadcasting the combine. Everyone else had gotten 45 minutes of drill work in to loosen up. It makes a difference.
May 26 Update: In a bit of a surprise, Leonard measured only a 32-inch vertical and could bench the 185-pound bar only three times.
May 23 Update: Leonard skipped the NBA draft combine drills on Thursday and Friday, but decided on Friday morning to put on a shooting show for NBA executives as they walked in the gym. As I reported last week, Leonard has been working on his jump shot and was shooting very well in Vegas. He also shot the ball well in the brief 15 minutes or so before the combine began and had quite a crowd of NBA GMs and execs watching closely.
His measurements (7-3 wingspan and 8-10 standing reach) were good enough as well to make him a plausible (though slightly undersized) NBA power forward. He measured bigger than Blake Griffin and on par with Kevin Love. So even if the shooting thing doesn't work out, his rebounding prowess and motor might allow him to make a living at the 4.
May 12 Update: Kawhi Leonard is a big-time prospect. The San Diego State forward remains a bit of an enigma to NBA scouts. He ranked as just the 56th-best high school prospect in the class of 2009 by ESPNU and didn't really come on until his senior year in high school.
As a freshman he drew raves for his athletic ability, motor and rebounding, but scouts struggled to see exactly how he fit at the next level. Last season he helped lead the Aztecs to one of the best records in college basketball and drew serious attention from scouts. But after the season, the NBA was still largely split on what his pro potential was.
While we had Leonard in the top 14 of our Big Board most of the year, a number of NBA executives were much more pessimistic about his future. They pointed to his "tweener" status and subpar perimeter shooting as concerns. A few weeks ago, one GM told me he thought Leonard was, at best, a role player at the next level.
I respectfully disagree, as do a handful of NBA execs and scouts. I was blown away by Leonard at the workouts. Not only is his physical profile impressive (huge hands, long wing span, NBA body), but also he's much more skilled than your typical high-energy forward.
Leonard has been working on his jump shot since the season ended and was stroking it from NBA 3-point range the two days I was in the gym. And he demonstrated excellent ball-handling skills for a player his size -- both are prerequisites for an NBA small forward. He also has the ability to guard the 2, 3 and 4 at the next level.
Leonard proved to be a real gym rat as well. He was the first guy in the gym and the last one to leave both days I was there. On Tuesday I arrived at 9 a.m. and left at 5:30 -- Leonard was there the whole time working on various things; he must have shot 1,000 jumpers.
I've been trying to find a good NBA comp for him all year, and I think the best may be the Blazers' Gerald Wallace. Leonard has the same type of motor and toughness and is more skilled than you think. If he keeps shooting the ball like he did Tuesday and Wednesday, I believe he could end up being a top-5 pick in the draft. We've moved him up to No. 5 on our Big Board after seeing what he brings to the table.
He may not be a superstar at the next level, but it's hard to figure how he misses as a 10-year NBA player with that work ethic, physical profile and motor.
Apr 14 Update: Leonard has declared for the 2011 NBA Draft. Leonard is one of the most unique players in the country. He can play both the three and the four thanks to long arms, excellent athleticism and a great motor. He's a terrific rebounder as well. He doesn't have a polished offensive game yet, but there's a lot of potential there. He could be a Shawn Marion-type player. A likely lottery pick.
Mar 15 Update: The Good: A long, athletic forward with huge hands, a great motor and the ability to score from just about everywhere. He's a great rebounder too.
The Bad: Another player without a well-defined position. Ideally he'd be a few inches taller. He's not a great shooter yet. Can disappear sometimes in big games.
The Upside: Last year we had Leonard listed as a sleeper. Now that he plays on the No. 6 team in the country, that sort of talk has died down. But now the expectations may be almost too high for him. He's still developing his game offensively, but when you watch him, it's hard not to see what makes him special. NBA scouts love guys with intangibles, and Leonard appears to have them.
Jan 27 Update: San Diego State's Kawhi Leonard had a terrific game in the first loss to BYU, scoring 22 points and grabbing 15 boards despite the fact that he was battling the stomach flu and throwing up just 90 minutes before the game. More and more scouts are referring to him as a lottery pick, perhaps a top-10 pick by draft night.
Jan 18 Update: Last season, Leonard was one of the better kept secrets in college basketball. When we first wrote about him in early March, only a handful of GMs had given him a careful look. That's changed this season. Every team in the league has been out to scout Leonard multiple times, and that San Diego State is ranked No. 6 and remains one of the few unbeaten teams in the country doesn't hurt.
Despite such high expectations, Leonard has delivered. He's averaging 16 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game and has really wowed teams with his energy, athleticism and versatility. Scouts have regularly compared him to a young Shawn Marion.
Like Marion, Leonard is a bit of a hybrid forward. He is a big-time athlete and has a huge wingspan and freakishly big hands. He has an emerging offensive game and jump shot and can defend multiple positions on the floor. Last year, scouts were calling him a tweener. This year, they're calling him versatile.
"He's really improved," one veteran scout said. "Last year, he was getting by almost exclusively on his length and athleticism. This year, you can tell he's really starting to get it at both ends of the floor. He's still a work in progress, but when you play with that intensity and have those physical tools, you're likely going to succeed in our league."
We've moved Leonard into the teens on our Big Board for the first time, and it's not out of the question that he ends up as a late lottery pick if he continues to help San Diego State win.
Jan 4 Update: Who is the most underrated on our draft board? Again, there wasn't a ton of consensus here. San Diego State small forward Kawhi Leonard got the most votes, followed by Kansas power forwards Thomas Robinson and Markieff Morris, plus center Lucas Nogueira of Brazil.
Leonard doesn't fit the traditional mold, but he's been super-productive on one of the few undefeated teams left in college basketball. Every scout who has watched him this season has walked away impressed. A number of them claim he could be a lottery pick.
Nov 2 Update: Leonard was the Mountain West Rookie of the Year and the MVP of the MWC tournament last season. He is another athletic freak with long arms, endless energy and a knack for crashing the boards. Like Kenneth Faried's, his game is relentless.
He, too, is a bit undersized for his position and has yet to show much of a skilled offensive game. He's still relying on pure athleticism and motor. Scouts have some worries about what position he'll play in the pros, but overall they think he'll find a way to contribute.
Another big season for Leonard, especially on the offensive end, could push him up 10 spots higher on our draft board.
Mar 16 Update: The Good: Leonard is a beast in the paint. The superathletic, freakishly long forward cleans up down low. He is an elite rebounder and has huge hands. He's got a motor that runs nonstop and he's tough to slow down. He also is fairly impressive facing the basket.
The Bad: He's a bit of a tweener. He's undersized to be a 4 and lacks the lateral quickness to guard 3s.
The Upside: Expect the tournament to be Leonard's coming-out party. If NBA GMs weren't paying attention before, they will be. His combination of physical tools and hustle make him an unusual prospect. Not only is he a potential first-round pick this year, he could be a lottery pick with another year of seasoning.
Mar 15 Update: Leonard is a beast in the paint. The superathletic, freakishly long forward cleans up down low. He is an elite rebounder and has huge hands. He's got a motor that runs nonstop and he's tough to slow down. He also is fairly impressive facing the basket.
He's a bit of a tweener. He's undersized to be a 4 and lacks the lateral quickness to guard 3s.
Expect the tournament to be Leonard's coming-out party. If NBA GMs weren't paying attention before, they will be. His combination of physical tools and hustle make him an unusual prospect. Not only is he a potential first-round pick this year, he could be a lottery pick with another year of seasoning.