What if Leonard has peaked? What if, when he is on a team with other all-star players, he only averages 18, 6, and 2 with all-nba level defense? What if his athleticism is waning as fast as Gerald Wallace's did at the same age?
Cuz that is how I view Leonard moving forward. Brown is almost that already, and has another 6-10 years of peak athleticism and development to his game.
I'm bumping this because I haven't seen interaction with it.
I genuinely think Leonard has peaked. This is an ultimate sell-high moment for the Spurs. If they get a kings ransom and Leonard's athleticism falls off a cliff due to nagging injuries/age, that trade will go down as one of the best trades of the decade.
I think he will likely be closer to 18 points a game in his new system over the next 4-5 years. Here is my reasoning:
1. Waning athleticism combined with poor ball-handling that prohibits him from getting to his spaces on the court
2. Not playing in Pops system, which was tailored to Leonard's spots on the court. Remember when they switched a few years ago from the 4-out offense to playing through the mid-post? That was adjusting the offense to fit Leonard's game, but almost no other team runs that offense in the league. Can Leonard score at that high of a level with a normal NBA offense?
3. He peaked. This is not a player that has had multiple 25 ppg seasons. He had one season like that and one season at 21 ppg. What if he was closer to the 21 ppg than the 25 ppg scorer? That year his free throw rate spiked considerably, way higher than any other year in his career in the NBA or college. One of the first things to go when athleticism wanes is the ability to draw fouls.