Kawhi Leonard (2011)
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There’s a reason why many NBA fans will say that, like the New England Patriots of the NFL, the San Antonio Spurs are playing chess while the rest of the NBA is playing checkers.
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After watching forward Kawhi Leonard, a second-team All-American in 2011, fall to the 15th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, San Antonio engineered a trade with the Indiana Pacers for the rights to Leonard.
After something of a slow start in San Antonio, Leonard went on to dominate LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals, and become perhaps the best on-ball defender the NBA has ever seen since Scottie Pippen.
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