Popovich Sees Leonard As Future Face Of Spurs Gregg Popovich envisions Kawhi Leonard as the future cornerstone of the Spurs. “I think he’s going to be a star. And as time goes on, he’ll be the face of the Spurs I think. At both ends of the court, he is really a special player,” said Popovich, who has been the Spurs' coach since 1996. “And what makes me be so confident about him is that he wants it so badly. He wants to be a good player, I mean a great player. He comes early, he stays late, and he’s coachable, he’s just like a sponge. When you consider he’s only had one year of college and no training camp yet, you can see that he’s going to be something else.” Again, why we didn't pick him?
Pops can make those kinds of bold statements. He's on his way toward the end of his career. Won't have to be accountable if Kawhi doesn't turn out to be special. And besides, any smart coach is going to pump up his player. They may want to trade him down the road. No better way to max his value then the league's premier coach annointing you the next franchise player. Some other stupid GM that doesn't know how to evaluate talent may offer the Spurs 2 lottery picks for Leonard after next season.
Lets just hope our 1st round picks from this draft turn out better then last years. I would hate to see another hit and miss.
time to panic guys after all it is a well known fact that pop decides single handedly who gets into the hall of fame and his word is never false. Spurs are a great organization with a great system. Many years ago they did a great job and drafted manu and tony and as a result won many championships.. they also have not been perfect and besides those two stars they have not drafted/signed any other stars. Sure they have gotten nice players who have produced in their system and as a result they are a winning franchise but just because you drafted two stars so long ago does not make you the sole authority on identifying super stars as pops is claiming leonard will be lets not forget that in our dealing with the spurs during moreys tenure we gave up vspan for scola .. I would say that kinda worked out in our favor
I seriously wanna see Pop stay with the franchise once Duncan leaves...then we can talk...(expecting Pop's retirement)
regardless if he becomes a star or just improves moderately, looking back the Leonard - George Hill trade was another huge steal for Buford/Pops. The Pacers on the other hand could've just waited a year and overpaid Dragic or Lin or George Hill in the free agency. Which they did with George Hill anyway. Leonard would complete a great 2/3 rotation for the Pacers off the bench. A mistake by Larry Bird there.
I'm a Leonard fan. What Popovich is saying here is all true. Dude is gonna be a star. He looked like a LeBron during summer league. Added a lot of moves to his arsenal.
I am not sure about franchise cornerstone but I think he has a very very good chance of being a future All Star. He is a good defender and a good three point shooter with a lot of upside. He seems to have a good attitude and work ethic as well and the Spurs organization is always good at maximizing talent.
Please, please, please let this be true. If Kwahi is the cornerstone of the Spurs franchise going forward, the Rockets are looking good! I'd take the potential upside of any of Lamb, D-Mo, Jones, White, Lin ahead of Kwahi right now. Very solid player, I like him, but c'mon..
Aside from Lin none of them have even played a single NBA game. The potential upside of any of them over Kawhi? Come on.... Note when you said ANY.