Here's a quick thought experiment. Imagine if the NBA's best offensive player were also an elite defender? He's the MVP, right? Seems like a reasonable conclusion. Now let's flip it around. If the NBA's best defensive player is also an elite offensive player, what then? MVP, right?
This is where we're at with Kawhi Leonard.
It's downright silly that most people don't consider him in the discussion of the NBA's best player. For some reason, dominant defensive players with above-average impact on offense don't get nearly the same hype as when it's the other way around -- i.e., the Stephen Currys and James Hardens of the NBA.
Leonard is becoming the rest of the NBA's greatest fear: The Spurs found a guy outside the top 10 in the draft and transformed him into a franchise cornerstone. The 23-year-old just won NBA Defensive Player of the Year, but, as he's showing now, he's almost as good on the other end.
Let's go inside the numbers to show how the defensive player of the year is becoming the offensive engine of the San Antonio Spurs.