San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard and Golden State’s Klay Thompson have a lot in common. Both came out in the 2011 NBA Draft; both have a hard “K” in their forename; both have exceeded expectations since getting drafted (No. 11 for Klay and No. 15 for Kawhi), and both are elite on each side of the ball. Last night, during a slow-moving fast break for the Spurs, Kawhi even jamed it on Klay.
Gregg Popovich said of Leonard after last night’s win, “We ran more plays for him tonight than I ever have in his career.”
But this rim-rocker on Thompson came in the natural flow, and wasn’t a prearranged set.
“We’ve got to start giving him the ball, he’s the future. I don’t think Timmy and Manu are going to play any more than six or seven more years,” Popovich added in typically dry fashion after the contest.
Touches weren’t a problem for Thompson last night. With his backcourt mate going cold from long-range, Thompson was 5-for-6 from behind the three-point arc while scoring a team-high 29 points. While Thompson might not be the catalyst for a lot of Warriors sets (that’s Steph), he is the beneficiary — at least more so than Kawhi.
Leonard did drill two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter last night, and that’s what Popovich was getting at, but they came off a Tony Parker drive-and-kick and after Manu Ginobili secured a scramble for the ball when Parker was stripped. While Leonard will get more looks this year — he’s averaging nearly a shot and a half more per game through this season’s first fortnight, it’ll be a gradual process, rather than throwing him into the fire like the more under-manned Warriors were forced to do with Thompson.
Then again Klay got his almost*-max contract extension this summer and Kawhi has to wait. That’s where their similarities diverge, but only slightly. We doubt San Antonio fails to re-up Kawhi this summer, so we can look forward to these Western Conference wings battling into the next decade.
Who ends up having a better career, Klay or Kawhi?
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