If Burks were playing for the Spurs and Leonard were playing for the Jazz, we might feel the opposite.
Burks has a lot of talent.
Burks has a lot of talent.
How Jazz mistakes first prevented then made the Pacers and Spurs. AKA--Recent Jazz Draft Screw-ups
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David Stern
Well-Known Member
Drafting is indeed a crapshoot, but either way I couldn't believe it when we passed up Kawhi. Stupid decision.
GVC
Well-Known Member
I doubt the team switch would make that big a difference. The deeper you dig into Kawhi's stats, the better he looks.
Leonard has been a very nice addition for the Spurs, but I've always felt (since before he played a minute) that the Spurs would help him become the best player he could be. In fact, there's an article about this from the very site that the OP's article comes from and I highly encourage everyone read it if they envy Leonard (in addition to the article linked in the OP).
https://www.grantland.com/blog/the-...awhi-leonard-conundrum-and-why-life-is-unfair
And I'm not taking away from Leonard, it's more about credit to the Spurs.
https://www.grantland.com/blog/the-...awhi-leonard-conundrum-and-why-life-is-unfair
And I'm not taking away from Leonard, it's more about credit to the Spurs.
GVC
Well-Known Member
meh on that article (or at least the Kawhi/Jan comparison). The Spurs would have picked Kawhi ahead of Vesely if they had been given the chance. I never understood the Vesely love. His body/athleticism left him unable to defend any position on the floor, and he had virtually no basketball skills. Dude can run and jump. That's it. Kawhi, at the very least, was going to be able to defend, likely multiple positions, at the NBA level. He could also run and jump. The J is a nice surprise, and the Spurs deserve a lot of credit for giving coaching him well, and correctly recognizing his work ethic, but Kawhi was a far better prospect than Jan.
Look beyond the Vesely comparison, because I thought Vesely was junk as well. But if Kawhi Leonard isn't given every possible chance to succeed as a shooter, he wouldn't be able to impact the game nearly as much as he does now (because he might be a liability that hurts his team or can't be kept on the floor for as many situations as he is now), and I think it's obvious the Spurs have helped him in ways that most teams just wouldn't. The Spurs acknowledged the shooting weakness before the draft and embraced it because they knew that would be the thing that might enable them to acquire him. One of the first things they did once they got him was get him started on a regimen, and then they had him employed in a system built around getting guys shots in their spots and putting a premium on the corner 3. He landed in the best place he possibly could've and I am all but positive he wouldn't be quite the same player here or anywhere else.
I think this goes to show if you give a guy a defined role with limited responsibility, he can succeed (provided he has the tools/talent to do that of course).
Matthews had a pretty good team when he came in, DWill was at the point, Kirilenko at SF, Boozer, Okur... all he had to do was defend his position, cut for occasional layups and knock down corner 3's.
I would argue he did that just as effectively as Kawhi.
Matthews had a pretty good team when he came in, DWill was at the point, Kirilenko at SF, Boozer, Okur... all he had to do was defend his position, cut for occasional layups and knock down corner 3's.
I would argue he did that just as effectively as Kawhi.
