Each NBA team’s best trade in franchise history

San Antonio Spurs

Kawhi Leonard, Davis Bertans, and Erazem Lorbek for George Hill (to IND) (2011)

There are probably still some salty San Antonio Spurs fans who can’t believe Kawhi Leonard demanded to leave their beloved organization (more on that in a bit), but those folks forget that this man basically extended the teams’ dominant run for at least a few more seasons. It also wouldn’t have happened if the team had stuck with George Hill as Tony Parker’s backup.

Instead of doing that, the Spurs sent him to the Indiana Pacers for Erazem Lorbek (never played in the league), Davis Bertans (useful rotational big man), and the draft rights to Leonard. It was a win-win for both sides: Indiana, who drafted Paul George the season prior and still had Danny Granger on the roster, needed a steady point guard to run the offense while San Antonio picked up some useful pieces and a player in Leonard that they could hopefully mold into a star.

In Leonard’s case, mission accomplished. By for former San Diego State Aztec’s fifth season, he was one of the NBA’s premier two-way wings, averaging 21.2 points with .277 WS/48 while earning his first All-Star Game appearance and the second of two consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards. And this was with a Finals MVP already in his back pocket.

By year six (25.5 PPG, .264 WS/48), Leonard was arguably one of the three best players in the league. He even led the Spurs to a big lead in Game 1 of the 2017 Western Conference Finals against the vaunted Golden State Warriors before Zaza Pachulia stuck his foot in Leonard’s landing spot following a jumper, which ended the series and ultimately Leonard’s time with the Spurs. But Spurs fans should remember the good times instead of harping on Leonard cackling his way to Toronto.