San Antonio Spurs: Kawhi Leonard Needs Consistency Before Max Deal

Thus far through the season, Kawhi Leonard has provided the San Antonio Spurs and their fans with both, a bit of fear for the future and some assurance that he’s right where he belongs and isn’t going anywhere.

Initially, Leonard and his agent remarked that he would test free agency in 2015 in search of a max contract, although, Leonard was in hopes that the big paycheck would come from R.C. Buford and Co.

But with Leonard recently coming out and letting it be known San Antonio is his home and he has no plans of changing that, it only makes sense to give the future of the Spurs his big money, right?

Well, at this point, the answer is both yes and no.

There’s no question that Leonard is going to take hold of the reins once Tim Duncan and Tony Parker pass the torch at the end of their Hall of Fame careers, just as there’s no question that Leonard is going to develop into a true superstar at some point in his career and will be a phenomenal two-way player for the Spurs.

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But there’s one thing that Leonard has lacked up to this point in the season that typically comes along with superstars and their max contracts … consistency.

This isn’t the kind of consistency we talk about with most players, who are simply looking to remain relevant on a consistent basis. But then again, there’s not really anybody in the league in the same situation as Leonard in terms of being a superstar in waiting.

Rather, when we discuss Leonard needing to find more consistency, considering that max contract he wants, is taking the next step as the offensive backbone and go-to guy.

Just look at some of Leonard’s scoring numbers this season. He opened the season with six-point, 11-point and seven-point games.

He then started getting the ball rolling and finding its way into the rim a bit more and has scorer in nine of his last 10 games, but has only scored more than 21 once and had a five-point struggle along with two 14-point and 12-point scoring performances.

Another thing to take note of is his field goal attempts, as Leonard is only 8.6 per game. When you look at stars like Kevin Durant who averaged 20.8 looks per game last season, while the up-and-coming star Damian Lillard posts 13.8 shots per night, you see that the assertion from Leonard offensively just isn’t there on a nightly basis.

You also have to keep in mind that Leonard is still having to share shots with what will likely become three Hall-of-Famers in Duncan, Parker and Manu Ginobili, in addition to being in a system that emphasizes teamwork over individual glorification.

Now of course, San Antonio is probably going to throw the money that Leonard wants at him next summer regardless of the strides he takes this season, but if you ask me, 13.6 points per night just isn’t good enough for the fatter wallet he wants.

Before you can consider Leonard worthy of the same kind of money we see dished out to LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, seeing the Spurs’ star grow from being a consistent producer to becoming a dominant consistently is something that should be required.

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