[Anton123Participant]

Looking at the GM survey, I can’t help but feel like Kawhi is underrated, at least by the GMs. The guy is 26 years old, is widely considered the best defender in the NBA, and is coming off a season where he averaged 25.5 ppg along with 3.5 apg, while elevating his game in the playoffs. 

I feel like an argument can be made that if he isn’t already the second best player in the league (after Kevin Durant), he will be next year, as age takes even more of a toll on LeBron James. Around the world the consensus opinion seems to be that LeBron isn’t getting older, but he has basically become a one-way player now, taking most possessions off on defense. 

So what do you think? Is Kawhi a top-2 player in the league? Can he be considered the frontrunner for MVP this year? Would you take him over LeBron James/Towns/Antetokounmpo to start a franchise?

 

[he_gets_bucketsParticipant]

 I dont know if KD can lay claim to the best in the league title just yet.. LeBron is still the guy with the target on his back IMO, I think that next spot is up for debate between a number of guys, from KD to Kawhi to Russ to maybe even Giannis if he has a big year. But I don’t think LeBron has taken a step back at all, KD only even got to the Finals against him by jumping ship to a 73 win team.

[HitsterParticipant]

I got called out once for suggesting that Kawhi was listed too high as being 3rd best player in the NBA. It seems on MVP voting and certainly on here that Kawhi is now well established in that very top tier of players – LBJ, Curry, Westbrook MVP, Harden and KD.

Last year AD was potentially considered as the player likely to break into the top 5 but now Kawhi is well established and if what some people believe he is a top 3 NBA player ahead of Westbrook, Harden and Curry.

All ratings is subjective but is Kawhi is as good as some say then he could potentially be in a position to challenge for the mantle of best NBA player fairly soon. LBJ turns 33 this December and we could argue Kawhi has more upside than the Presti drafted trio and Curry.

Whether someone like AD, Giannis etc could come out of the younger back and go ahead of the established guys and Kawhi also has to be considered.

But is he underrated no way.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 He can put up Jordanesque stats this year.  Not sure the Spurs win enough games for Kawhi to get the MVP award.  Warriors and Cavs will win more games.  So, too, could the Thunder, Rockets, and maybe the Celtics.

 

 

[high floorParticipant]

Can the Cavs, who added significant depth & play in the East, win more games than the Spurs, who play in the loaded West & run back a similar team to the one they had last season (Rudy Gay being the exception, who actually could be good for small-ball lineups if healthy)?

It’s close……. but I always get burned picking against the Spurs with any type of wager. I say San Antonio still wins more games than Cleveland this year in the regular season.

 

  

[2quick4uParticipant]

yes Kawhi Leonard is vastly underrated just the same way you’re doing with Steph Curry, when you say that Kevin Durant is the best player in the league.

i know this site hates to read what i’m about to say, and everytime i get negged for saying it but i’ll repeat it again: people still confuse stats and impact.

Last season Westbrook had a fantastic year and displayed a vast exercise of physical and mental force, but even so, the MVP last year should have been Kawhi Leonard, but that doesn’t sell as much as triple doubles.

The spurs won 61 games in a packed conference, with a team that featured Leonard and then an old Parker that could barely move during the season and missed most part of the playoffs, an average Patty Mills, Danny Green a great defender but a guy that needs almost 30min to score 7 pts with less than a 40% FG, the worst version ever of Lamarcus Aldridge and a 36 yo Gasol that was limited to 25 min. and that’s basically it. 

Again, that team won 61 games in the west, 8 more wins than Lebron’s cleveland playing in a weak east along with Irving and Love…

Not only that, but the spurs were the best defense in the league and Leonard a top 3 defensive player. Given that effort, he still managed to score 25’5 pts playing the 3rd slowest pace in the league, and if that is not enough, he had a 49% FG and only turned the ball over 2,1 times a game. That is efficiency and that is impact.

He then took that team to the CF after beating Harden’s rockets, and he only needed 3 quarters to destroy the 2nd best defense in the league and make blush the DPY. Maybe the History would be different today if it wasn’t for Pachulia…

in the other hand, Westbrook averaged a triple double but those numbers only translated into 47 wins and an early exit in the 1st round of the playoffs, and it’s not that Westbrook was not well surrounded, but rather that he actually was the main reason to not let his teammates flourish. He also averaged 5.4 TO and 42’5% FG, that is inefficiency and those are inflated stats.

Kawhi and Westbrook are opposing players, one sacrifice himself for the sake of the collective success, and the other one sacrifice himself for the sake of his stats and his ego.. One impacts, the other one gets stats, one gets awards, the other one rings.

In my opinion, in this league there are only 5 true franchise players that can/could carry a team to the ring, and those are: Curry, Lebron, Leonard, Durant and Antetokounmpo (out of the young players).

Out of these 5, i think there are 2 tiers;

1st tier: Curry, Lebron and Leonard

2nd tier: Durant and Giannis (for the moment)

Curry, Lebron and Leonard are the only players that have showed they can take a team to the glory;

Durant was close but never achieved anything until he moved to San Francisco..in fact he failed big time in 2013 when OKC had the best team in the league and got beat by the grizzlies in the 2nd round..Still, I think he could carry a team to the ring while being the 1st option if he was well surrounded.

Giannis is the only under 25 player that has showed that type of potential.

The rest of the players are way below..especially from the 1st tier…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cohenbc1Participant]

The top four are Curry, Durant, James and Leonard in my opinion. 

So Kawhi is slightly underrated in that he finished below Westbrook and Harden in MVP voting despite leading his team to many more wins, but I don’t think that many smart basketball people actually believe that Harden and Westbrook are as good as Kawhi.

Kawhi and LeBron are my favorites for MVP this year, if I had to pick, because Curry and Durant will cancel each other out, and Harden and Westbrook will not put up the same kind of stats (or if they do, they will come under intense criticism for not sharing the ball with other all-star level players).

The quad tendinitis thing makes me think that Pop will probably rest Kawhi every chance he reasonably can this year, so he may play too few games to get the MVP.

 

 

 

 

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