I always felt like Leonard's legend was bigger than his actual play. He played one season as a top 5 player in the NBA. That one season broke one very important norm in his entire basketball career -- free throw rate. It spiked considerably. Most of the time, as a player's athleticism wanes so does his free throw rate.
I wonder, if he only averages 20 with less shot creation than DeRozan had and elite defense, will the narrative shift? Will it be blaming his athleticism, or bemoaning the player that was? Will the blame be on the system, or the coaching, or the teammates? Or will people recognize then what I'm saying now, Leonard is a good, not great or elite, offensive basketball player. He is in the same tier as Tobias Harris as an offensive basketball player, except for one year when his free throw rate spiked.
If there were negative TPs, I'm sure I'd get negged bad here, but I always thought Leonard was a more effective version of Gerald Wallace. He locks-in on defense more, but he also rebounds less. Leonard is a better scorer than Wallace, primarily because Leonard is a much better shooter.
That's a really good basketball player, but if you are willing to consider that, you also have to consider how Gerald Wallace fell off a cliff as his athleticism waned. Leonard's fall won't be that bad because of shooting and mentality, but I don't think he has the dribbling, feel, or moves to a first option on a playoff team.