5. Kawhi Leonard, forward, San Antonio Spurs
There hasn’t been a player improve throughout his first few NBA seasons at the clip we’ve seen from Leonard since LeBron James went straight from high school to the Association almost 15 years ago. That’s how much improvement we have seen from the face of the Spurs’ franchise, especially on the offensive end of the court.
Leonard heads into the season’s second half averaging 25.3 points and shooting at a 49 percent clip from the field as well as boasting an absurd 54 percent effective field goal mark. He’s also leading all small forwards in defensive rating while racking up 1.8 steals per game.
This has all led to a Spurs team that has not missed a beat in their first season without future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan. We already knew that Leonard would be the face of the franchise in San Antonio moving forward. We simply didn’t know it would be this quick.
Now with his Spurs boasting the second-best record in the NBA heading into the season’s second half, Leonard has morphed from elite defender to one of the most valuable players in the Association. That’s not even in question right now.