Kawhi Leonard already taking Raptors to new heights: 'There's more to come with this guy'

Mark Suleymanov

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Kawhi Leonard already taking Raptors to new heights: 'There's more to come with this guy' image

Kawhi Leonard’s introduction to the Raptors was literally a laughing matter.

Seated to the right of team president Masai Ujiri at his introductory press conference in September, Leonard, a star known for his quiet demeanor, proclaimed himself a "fun guy" before he let out his version of a laugh. The clip went viral; it was remixed in dozens of ways and even elicited a ridiculous reaction from comedian Kevin Hart.

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After 28 games, Leonard and the Raptors are having plenty of fun, and the rest of the league isn't laughing much.

Powered by a healthy Leonard, the Raptors boast the NBA’s best record at 21-7. Leonard is the league’s eighth-leading scorer (26.1) and has notched eight games of 30-plus points.

The scary part? He can get better.

"I keep telling everybody, I think there’s more to come with this guy," Raptors first-year head coach Nick Nurse said.

A lingering quad injury limited Leonard to only nine games last season. Questions surrounded the 27-year-old, with doubts emerging about him being able to return to the form that made him a two-time All-Star, NBA Finals MVP and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Months of reports suggested Leonard wanted out of San Antonio.

The Raptors, fresh off another early LeBron James-led postseason elimination, wanted significant changes. It started with the coaching staff and was completed when Toronto dealt longtime franchise linchpin DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs in a blockbuster trade to acquire Leonard.

DeRozan, one of the most productive and important figures in franchise history, finished eighth in MVP voting last season. It was the second-highest MVP finish for a Raptors player since Chris Bosh came in seventh back in 2007.

And yet, despite all that DeRozan had done, Ujiri had to pull the trigger on the deal. Top-five players rarely hit the trade market. 

Leonard is making that summer move look like a home run so far. He has re-emerged as one of the league's elite two-way talents — and he has the chance to take Toronto to a higher level than ever before.

An MVP contender — or the favorite?

In his new environment, the only player Leonard had teamed with previously is Danny Green, who was part of the Spurs’ trade package to Toronto. But Leonard has already made a strong first impression with his Raptors teammates.

Nine-year veteran Greg Monroe bounced around to three teams last season before he signed with Toronto over the summer. He’s only appeared in 11 games so far, but watching from the sidelines, Monroe believes Leonard’s efforts have put him firmly in MVP discussions.

"I don’t know the exact numbers for other people, but what he has done for our team, our record and everything that usually goes into the MVP award, he definitely has to be, if not in the lead, he has to be in the top three," Monroe told Sporting News.

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Monroe saw another MVP candidate, Giannis Antetokounmpo, up close and personal over the course of the last three seasons. At this juncture, Antetokounmpo is considered by many an early favorite for the award.

Speaking as a former teammate of "The Greek Freak" and current teammate of "The Klaw," Monroe gives the edge to the latter.

"[Leonard is] having a great season," Monroe said. "Individually and as a team, we’re playing really well, so he has to be in contention."

The only thing that may hurt Leonard is the Raptors’ early precautions. After last year’s injury trouble, Leonard has yet to play in the second game of a back-to-back set this season. His personal statistics, however, have never been better.

In 22 games, Leonard is averaging career-highs of 26.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 34.7 minutes per game. His steals (1.9) and assists (3.0) are right in line with his career averages.

"It’s early," Nurse said. "I think he’s maybe on the outskirts of the [MVP] talk or he’s entering it because he’s starting to score a little bit more now."

Rediscovering old Kawhi

Four of Leonard's eight 30-plus point games this season occurred in his first 12 games. The runner-up for NBA MVP in 2016 has since netted 30-plus points in four of his five last six games. Not only is he scoring at will, but Leonard has also shouldered a significant load late in games.

On Nov. 29 against the defending champion Warriors, Leonard matchup against former MVP Kevin Durant, who finished with 51 points and sank a pivotal 3-pointer to force overtime. 

"The games I’ve had, if anybody is playing better than Kevin Durant, I don’t know him," Nurse said. "He dropped 50 on us. He looked pretty good to me."

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Leonard firmly contested Durant all night, but he still shot 18-of-31 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. However, late in overtime, Leonard used his trademark defense to force a Durant turnover that helped the Raptors close out a 131-128 win. Leonard finished with 37 points on an efficient 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) shooting night.

In Wednesday's 113-102 win over the 76ers, Leonard dropped 36 points and grabbed nine rebounds against one of the Eastern Conference's best teams. Leonard also wreaked havoc with his trademark defense, snagging five steals (without a single personal foul) and frustrating star point guard Ben Simmons for a good portion of the contest. 

"People always want to describe him as a defensive player, but he's a scorer — he scores the ball at a high level," point guard Fred VanVleet told Sporting News. "It's something where you let the outside world shape the way you think about things.

"Coming in, you think of him as a two-way player, which is a respect to his defense, but he's a hell of a scorer."

Even in losses, Leonard has shown himself to be a difference maker. In an overtime loss to the Nets on Friday, Leonard finished with 32 points, including all seven of Toronto's points in the extra period. For someone who missed most of the prior season with a leg injury, Leonard supplied further proof that he is quickly rediscovering his dominant form.

"I think his legs are feeling better, I think his defense is picking up and [he's] shooting the ball even better," Nurse said. "I think he’s going up higher on dunks, the 3-ball is going in a lot more."

The leadership question

Late last month, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said that while the talent is missed, Leonard was not a leader during his seven-year tenure in San Antonio.

"Kawhi was a great player, but he wasn't a leader or anything," Popovich said. "Manu [Ginobili] and Patty [Mills] were the leaders. Kawhi's talent will always be missed, but that leadership wasn't his deal at that time."

MORE: Leonard responds to Popovich’s leadership claims

Leonard addressed Popovich's comments by describing himself as someone who "leads by example." His teammates backed up that assertion.

"On the court, he’s a great player, great defender, great two-way player," Raptors guard Malachi Richardson told Sporting News. "I think that’s been the biggest thing for us. Off the court, he fits right in with us, so it works out."

With Leonard leading the way, the Raptors are off to their best start in franchise history, an impressive early run considering the team finished with a franchise-record 59 wins just last season. However, that version of the Raptors never advanced past the Eastern Conference finals.

This year, LeBron's shadow no longer looms over the rest of the East. And even if it did, Leonard has already defeated James in the postseason, the same year he took home the Larry O'Brien Trophy and NBA Finals MVP honors.

The only person in the Raptors locker room qualified to speak on Leonard's ability to win a championship is the man who won it with him — and Green says leadership is not an issue here.

"He's one of the best players in the game — period," Green told Sporting News. "He's leading this team and doing exactly what he needs to do."

Mark Suleymanov