Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan are two of the biggest names in basketball whose careers are going to be forever intertwined after a blockbuster 2018 summer trade that switched their fates. Both players are currently playing with a passion to prove their former teams wrong by sending them off to NBA cities they never wanted to play in.
The two perennial All-Stars are playing at a high level and are quite likely going to be ultra-focused on getting their respective teams in the playoffs and making a lot of noise in the process. After an emotional, roller-coaster ride during the summer when the trade happened, who among these two players is playing better this early in the season?
Kawhi with the Toronto Raptors
More than a week of regular-season basketball has passed and Leonard’s Toronto Raptors are at the top of the NBA standings with a 5-0 record, matching the franchise’s best start. They are looking to take over as the Kings of the East now that LeBron James no longer resides in Cleveland these days.
“We're on the right track,” Kawhi Leonard said via ESPN. “We've won every game so far and we've just got to keep going.”
Leonard is currently averaging a career-high clip of 28.0 points and 7.8 rebounds to go along with 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. It looks like last season’s reduced averages were really just the result of the injury he had complained about to Spurs management. He not only looks healthy, Leonard is also playing with hunger and aggression this early. There’s no question that he wants to prove the doubters and the haters wrong.
Prior to the start of the season (and the preseason), it was difficult to measure where Leonard belonged amongst the game’s elite players after coming from a year wherein he missed a majority of the games to a right quadriceps injury. These missed games included those in which the Spurs’ doctors cleared him to play.
When asked about his health during Media Day, the reserved but quietly competitive Leonard confidently declared that he was in good shape to play basketball this season.
“Right now I’m feeling great, ready to play basketball.” Kawhi Leonard said. “Throughout the summer I worked on my body. Took it step-by-step, just getting fully healthy, getting ready to make this extra step this season.”
The unusually jolly forward also took the time to have some fun after being asked to give people an insight into the kind of person he really is.
“I’m a fun guy,” Kawhi Leonard responded. “Obviously, I love the game of basketball. I mean, there’s just more questions you have to ask in order for me to tell you about myself. I just can’t give you the whole spiel. I don’t even know where you’re sitting at.”
Leonard let out a good and hearty chuckle after that one.
Five games into the season, the Raptors haven’t lost a beat after having the best record in the East last year and that is due in large part to the excellent play of their newly acquired All-Star. If Leonard continues to play even better as the season progresses, he has a huge shot at landing his first-ever Most Valuable Player award by season’s end.
DeMar with the San Antonio Spurs
Meanwhile, DeRozan’s San Antonio Spurs are still trying to find their identity after the recent departure of Tony Parker, who signed a two-year deal with the Charlotte Hornets in the offseason, and veteran Manu Ginobili retired from competitive basketball. The Spurs also lost dynamic guard Dejounte Murray to a torn right ACL injury that will keep him out of the lineup for the rest of the season. The team has a 3-2 win-loss card which has them in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference standings.
Nevertheless, DeRozan has been soldiering on, averaging 25.2 points on 44.6 percent shooting together with 3.8 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.0 steals a night. He’s a workhorse and hasn’t shied away from being the focal point of the offense in San Antonio. In fact, DeRozan is playing so well that if he keeps this up, he’ll end up as an All-Star in the West just like he was in the East. Some suspected that he wasn’t going to be as successful after moving to the league’s more competitive conference but that hasn’t been the case at all. DeRozan has been dominant, to say the least.
In their overtime game against LeBron James and the revamped Los Angeles Lakers, the 6-foot-7 shooting guard was firing on all cylinders, nearly coming up with a triple-double with 32 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds in a 143-142 win. This was after putting together two games in which he scored 28 points each time against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Portland Trail Blazers.
Though the Spurs lost in a humiliating 116-96 debacle against the Indiana Pacers last Wednesday, SB Nation’s CharlieOCharles described DeRozan’s scoring forays after making his first bucket in the game as “sublime.”
“It’s not his explosive ‘first step’ or incredible leaping ability that get him points. Every step can be the one that creates an advantage, and DeMar excels at using all of them.”
Clearly, DeRozan is playing with a chip on his shoulder from the very start. In fact, his scoring totals after the first two games are historic.
DeMar DeRozan now has the most points of any player in his first two games with the Spurs in franchise history.
Previous record was set in 1976 – Larry Kenon’s 51 – the year the Spurs joined the NBA.
— Jordan Howenstine (@AirlessJordan) October 21, 2018
Who’s Playing Better?
Both Kawhi Leonard and DeRozan are playing great basketball from the get-go with the two among the league leaders in scoring.
Thanks to a pristine record of five wins with no losses as well as MVP-like numbers, it’s hard to argue that Leonard is playing better basketball than the guy he replaced in Toronto.
But not by much.
DeRozan was a dark-horse candidate for MVP last season before the Raptors started losing steam toward the end and he could very well end up as a potential candidate for the league’s highest honor this season as well.
Kawhi Leonard, however, has been a stellar replacement for DeRozan in Toronto and he looks determined to show everyone that he is not only a great player, but he can also be the leader of a winning team.
The Raptors have been one of the best teams in the East the past couple of years but with Leonard around, they look like they can also take on the best teams in the West, including DeRozan’s Spurs.
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