Kawhi's progression this year

[Old School 44]

The Spurs let the market set the value. They never bid against themselves, but you can believe they'd match ANY offer in a heartbeat.

I agree as they should. Still wonder though, if some GM goes all in after Kawhi in a couple years will the Spurs match. Personally, I would, assuming he continues on this growth track. I really do believe Kawhi has the capability to be a 18-20 pt scorer in this league, but I think his defense is what is going to earn him that next big contract. In a couple years, if not sooner, Kawhi will be looked at like a lock down corner in football.

[exstatic]

I agree as they should. Still wonder though, if some GM goes all in after Kawhi in a couple years will the Spurs match. Personally, I would, assuming he continues on this growth track. I really do believe Kawhi has the capability to be a 18-20 pt scorer in this league, but I think his defense is what is going to earn him that next big contract. In a couple years, if not sooner, Kawhi will be looked at like a lock down corner in football.

They'll match. It's not like their payroll is even huge now, let alone will it be in 2 years. The question they will have to ask is "will a FA with an equal or better skill set to Kawhi come here?". The answer is likely "no". They'll pay him.

[Old School 44]

^You're probably right, especially with Duncan and Manu probably off the books. I don't know how all the contract stuff works, but the Spurs will probably extend Kawhi before he becomes a free agent anyway.

[Kidd K]

Okay, but like I said, even if his efficiency dropped a little, it'd still be a great level of scoring. I believe that he'll keep improving to the point where he can maintain great efficiency while increasing volume.

Him gaining a bigger role will help him improve. It's hard for him to improve his passing and ballhandling when he's the 4th option and he's basically always playing alongside Parker and/or Ginobili.

As for his rebounding, he's already one of the best rebounding SFs in the league. He rebounds more per 36 than guys like LeBron, Durant, and Melo.

And c'mon, you're a Spurs fan...you should know better than anyone that steals/blocks aren't what make a great defender. Bowen averaged .8 spg and .4 bpg for his career, and only averaged over 1 spg five times in his entire career. Kawhi has averaged over 1 spg in all 3 seasons so far, and his well above Bowen's career averages in both categories. Kawhi is already a defensive force and there's really no debating it. Can he improve? Sure. But even as he is right now, he's probably a top 5 perimeter defender in the league. Him getting more steals/blocks is far down the list in terms of things he needs to be trying to improve.

Two things I'd like to see him improve are: his ballhandling/playmaking, and overall aggressiveness on offense. Both of those things will come with the territory of gaining a bigger role when Duncan/Ginobili leave (which is inevitably coming up in the next year or two). He's already an excellent finisher. He's one of the best mid-range shooters in the league. He's solid from 3 and can space the floor. He's an elite perimeter defender who can bother basically any guard/wing in the league. 22 year-olds who can do all these things aren't common. I'm not trying to hype him up as the next MJ, but we really shouldn't take for granted what we have here. We just have to hope we can keep him here.

Bowen wasn't an athlete with freakish arms though lol. He's pretty much one of our best athletes with a freakish wingspan and gigantic hands. I just expect a bit more in those departments is all. Leonard's stats in those areas don't make him better or even close to Bowen, I just think Leonard is capable of more. Bowen kinda wasn't.

But yeah I'd like to see him somehow retain his scoring efficiency and increase his scoring, but I just don't think he can. I mean Duran't career average is 60% TS%. I just don't think Leonard is that good when scoring large volumes. Your expectations are just too high man. PPG will go up, TS% is gonna go down. Those stats are usually somewhat linked. Higher volume means worse TS% usually. That's why Durant is so dangerous. His 30 points aren't like a Kobe 30. They're more like a pre-first retirement MJ 30.

I agree with the last bit though about keeping him around. I hope he don't expect like 15m a year or something, 'cause Spurs prolly won't pay that.

[therealtruth]

I think the whole purpose of him not getting as many minutes is so he can handle those minutes in the playoffs

I'm not so sure about that. That strategy has seemed to backfire. The Spurs have looked out of gas at times when they've tried to play heavy minutes in the playoffs. If Pop had played TD and TP more minutes in game 6 it probably doesn't come down to a last shot.

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

I'm not so sure about that. That strategy has seemed to backfire. The Spurs have looked out of gas at times when they've tried to play heavy minutes in the playoffs. If Pop had played TD and TP more minutes in game 6 it probably doesn't come down to a last shot.

I don't think you can train older players to have better endurance by wearing them out more in the regular season. I know what you mean, but I don't think it's that simple for older guys.

[Sybok]

Kawhi is a defender first and foremost, and always will be. He's trying to develop an offensive game and part of that is being aggressive on offense. He still hesitates to attack the basket or even take an open shot, but some of that is due to the Spurs' mantra of finding the best shot, not just an open look. Kawhi knows where the Spurs shooting strengths lie and he gets the ball to them, but I don't know that Kawhi fully understands how important it is to the Spurs that he also be an offensive threat. It's not because no one else on the floor can score the ball, but because the guy he's guarding needs to work on the defensive end of the floor, and the opponent needs to know Leonard has to be covered. Imagine if Leonard could draw a double team, what that would do for the Spurs offense.

I do believe the coaching staff is bombarding him with demands that he be more aggressive, and you can see it in his game sometimes when it's obvious he not only has a green light to shoot, but an edict to do so. I'd like to see Parker go to him on consecutive trips to get him going instead of just ignoring him after he's scored a couple times in a row. I think allowing him to go one on one a few times could be a big deal for him and could be really beneficial to the Spurs in the playoffs when he has to provide offense. I think it's all mental right now for him. He's got the tools.

[Sybok]

The Spurs let the market set the value. They never bid against themselves, but you can believe they'd match ANY offer in a heartbeat.

No way the Spurs would match a max offer. Leonard won't get one, but Spurs can't afford to put that many eggs in one basket and historically haven't.

[Sybok]

Bowen wasn't an athlete with freakish arms though lol. He's pretty much one of our best athletes with a freakish wingspan and gigantic hands. I just expect a bit more in those departments is all. Leonard's stats in those areas don't make him better or even close to Bowen, I just think Leonard is capable of more. Bowen kinda wasn't.

But yeah I'd like to see him somehow retain his scoring efficiency and increase his scoring, but I just don't think he can. I mean Duran't career average is 60% TS%. I just don't think Leonard is that good when scoring large volumes. Your expectations are just too high man. PPG will go up, TS% is gonna go down. Those stats are usually somewhat linked. Higher volume means worse TS% usually. That's why Durant is so dangerous. His 30 points aren't like a Kobe 30. They're more like a pre-first retirement MJ 30.

I agree with the last bit though about keeping him around. I hope he don't expect like 15m a year or something, 'cause Spurs prolly won't pay that.

Everyone on the floor except the big 3 are capable of more but they don't have that role. You cannot just give Leonard free reign of the floor and still hope to have success in the playoffs. He's part of a slow system that works more like a marathon than a sprint. When he gets there, if he does, he'll be solid. There's no reason for the Spurs to give him more responsibility than he's getting now, at least not a lot more. They are successful and that's not a recipe with a wide margin of error.