That's why I give extra points to guys like Kawhi, even Kobe as much as we hate him. They were raw athletes with limited NBA skills coming into the league and their work ethic was tops in the league and they transformed themselves from raw mid-round pick athlete to best in the NBA.
With Kawhi, we didn't have to get uber-lucky and win the lottery to get him; it was all about getting to know him as a person at the combine and knowing what his combination of talent, work ethic/motivation to get better, and love of defense could and ultimately would mean to our franchise. With Duncan, it was merely about getting the ping pong ball; if any other team had drawn first in '97, the Spurs would have been a sub-mediocre franchise through the 2000s once David got too old to carry the team.