That's a credit to Parsons. You could argue that he has been a top 5 rookie this season but you won't give props to DM for finding a diamond in the rough. Amirite? Look at Leonard's game logs. He has scored in double figures in like 4 out of the last 20. He has had like 8 games with 1 made FG in that stretch. That's not exactly earth shattering numbers.
Now I don't have the stats to prove this, but considering that Parsons is ranked 9th among players in isolation defense, I highly doubt that Leonard is as good as Parsons on defense.
Some of those articles I read with the midseason award picks had Kawhi Leonard as their third best rookie. Irving is the clear cut frontrunner, and then Rubio, but Kawhi could get some third place votes thrown at him.
Not true at all. Leonard is better at post defense and forcing turnovers and not much else. In terms of guarding his man and making them take difficult shots, Parsons pretty much blows Leonard out of the water. Leonard is awful at guarding ballhandlers in ISO or PnR situations. He's also not good at closing out on spot up shooters. I will agree that Leonard is a more efficient scorer and a better rebounder, but Parsons is a overall defender and passer.
Parsons IS better than Leonard. So what if Leonard can score a bit more, Parsons has already shut down the best SFs in the league, including HOF caliber ones like Kevin Durant. I'd rather take the exceptional defender than the dude with the average all around skills. And the funny thing is not only is Parsons better now, he also has more room to improve than Leonard. Parsons just needs to develop his shot and work on his ball handling a bit more, his vision and passing are already top class.
I didn't say Parsons isn't a better player right now, he is. But show me where the experts are also saying that he has more potential than Leonard. Leonard is gonna be a damn good player. This is the Spurs scouting skills you guys are doubting.
The Houston scouting skills aren't bad either. In fact, in recent history I'd say the HO scouting department has been the best in the league. If all you're basing this is on reputation then they picked MM ahead of Leonard, I guess that means he's the best of the 3. As far as potential goes, I fail to see why you think Leonard has more potential than Parsons. Parsons has bigger holes in his game (ie. shooting and fts), so he knows what he needs to do to improve. With Leonard, he has to improve everything just to catch up to where Parsons is now.
Where is this claim coming from? Have you seen him play? I havent seen him play too much but all the scouting reports prior to the draft indicated his biggest strengths was his ability to stay infront of players during defense. And most of the rookie rankings and other rookie watch reports during this season dont mention weak one on one defense against ball handlers either. And I have seen just about all Rockets games and Parsons has not ever SHUT DOWN an elite wing. He has definitely affected their shots and made them work extra hard for the points. But he has never SHUT DOWN elite wings. I love Parsons, I really do. But its a joke, not only is he better then Kawhi but Parsons is even better then Battier - WOW !! guys here think Parsons is better then Battier - seriously. Parsons is smarter in defense then Kawhi. Parsons has more IQ and just knows what to do better then Kawhi. Thats why Parsons stands out. He is more ready now. Kawhi is the better defender physically, he has better tools physically. Kawhi is still a good defender although he doesnt know all the ins and outs like Parsons, its just a matter of learning what Parsons knows and gaining experience - then these comparisons will look stupid.
This isn't the 80's, you can't hand check people and prevent them from chucking shots. Shutting down in today's game=making them shoot a ridiculously low percentage. Check out the Parsons thread, a stat there has shown that on average people Parsons are guarding are shooting 15% from the field in ISO situations. That's about as close to shutting down as you can get. Are people Leonard guarding shooting from 15% as well? No? Then why say Leonard is a better defender when you have nothing to back it up? As far as experience and learning goes, Parsons isn't a grizzled veteran, he's a rookie just as much as Leonard is. By the time Leonard gets to his level, Parsons would have improved even more. As far as scouting reports go, they're not that accurate sometimes because of the weaker competition. In Leonard's case, he wasn't prepared for the NBA's speed, and while he can stay ahead of his opponent athletically, he's still missing some stuff between the ears and can get lost from time to time.
Who's to say he will improve even more? The dude already had four years in college. For all you know he could be like Battier and stay the same player for all his career. You have nothing to back that up. As for Leonard, it's been known that it takes years to understand Pop's system. Heck, he never even plays rookies unless he is forced to. Even veterans have a hard time understanding it, look at Richard Jefferson's improvement from year 1 to year 2. I like Leonard's potential better not only because of his physical traits, but because of his mental makeup. Believe me, this guy might have as much of a work ethic as Kobe. Just watch his interviews and you would see he is all business. This guy is a freakin 19 year old and his maturity is sky high. The only reason you don't see him scoring much is because he focuses on defense first. He has a type of passivity that is normal for a rookie, especially normal under a strict coach like Pop where you don't want to have mistakes. And he has shut down players, including Durant. Look at that particular box score and you will see Durant scored below average because Kawhi held him there. Rudy Gay too. You know what else is pretty amazing? The guy commits very few turnovers or fouls which goes to show he has adjusted to the NBA game quite well. Some of you guys need to put away your bias and see that Leonard will be a great player. I believe Parsons has already his his ceiling. Get real folks.
I think what he said was he can be the "best player" on a championship-winning team ala a Paul Pierce. Dude was delusional.
