3. Kawhi Leonard
Stats: 22.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 26.7 PER
The quiet assassin has been the biggest reason why the San Antonio Spurs are clearly the second-best team in the NBA right now. Quietly, much like their leader, the Spurs are having a historic season. Their team net rating right now is 12.4. If it hadn’t been for the Warriors unfair 16.3 net rating, the Spurs would be the talk of the NBA.
Impressively, the Spurs are the only team in the NBA with a top-5 offense and top-5 defense. Specifically, the Spurs have the NBA’s third best offense and best defense in the NBA. That, in a word, is good.
And Leonard has been the best player on this team. Before, he was the x-factor. In the NBA Finals, he was given the job of slowing down LeBron James. Even though he didn’t limit LeBron from getting his, Leonard quietly held his own – on both sides of the ball – against the best player in the world in 2013-14.
Leonard is a superstar and is slowly making his way up the best player in the world ladder.
Next: Kevin Durant