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Denver Nuggets: Three possible trades for Kawhi Leonard

By Grayson Moore

SAN ANTONIO, TX - JANUARY 13: Pau Gasol #16 of the San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs, and Davis Bertans #42 of the San Antonio Spurs look on against the Denver Nuggets on January 13, 2018 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TX - JANUARY 13: Pau Gasol #16 of the San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs, and Davis Bertans #42 of the San Antonio Spurs look on against the Denver Nuggets on January 13, 2018 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Current Small Forward Spot

Chandler had his lowest per game scoring average(10.0) since the 2011-12 season, where he played just 8 games and averaged under 27 minutes a game.

Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets /

Denver Nuggets

He also averaged his fewest made threes since his 2009-10 season on the Knicks and shot just under the league average of 36% from beyond the arc. For a player who has made a career out of being a solid three and D contributor, he isn’t really providing on the “three” part of the equation. He also averaged just 0.6 steals per game this past season, the second-lowest total of his career.

His PER dipped to 11.0, below his career average of 13.3. It’s clear that he isn’t the player he has been the past few seasons, and small forward is the only real positional weakness of this Nuggets team.

Leonard’s Strengths and Weaknesses

Kawhi Leonard has established himself as one of the best defenders in the NBA. He has won Defensive Player of the Year twice, a feat accomplished by only 7 other players.

He is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and as his Finals MVP in 2014 shows, he can beat not just LeBron James, but super teams as well. His offense is nothing to scoff at either. In his last full season(2016-17), Leonard averaged 25.5 ppg, while shooting 48.5% from the floor.

He also set career highs in made and attempted three-pointers, with 2.0 and 5.2 respectively, and shot 38.0% from the three-point line. Looking at Leonard’s game, he doesn’t have a real weakness.

Kawhi is efficient from the field and beyond the arc, he drills his free throws, he can handle the ball, he’s a solid rebounder. On the defensive side of the ball, few can match his impact on the game.

He is consistently near the top of the league in steals per game, can guard every position effectively, and in his two DPOY seasons, he collected 10.2 defensive win shares. He is one of 3  Spurs players all-time to get 4.7+ defensive win shares in 2 or more seasons. The other 2 players on that list are Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

How He Could Help the Nuggets

I can keep spouting out stats, but I think everybody knows that Kawhi Leonard is a good player. The point is that his strengths are beneficiary to the Nuggets, and some counteract their weaknesses. The biggest example of this: defense. The Nuggets allowed the 8th most points per game in the NBA last season. The Kawhi Leonard led Spurs in 2016-17 allowed the 2nd least points per game. Of course, not all that can be attributed to Leonard, but the fact remains that he is an incredible defensive player, and he would make a significant contribution to the Nuggets defense.

Now that we’ve established that he would be a perfect player for the Nuggets, let’s look at how he could get to Denver.