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Three goals for Kawhi Leonard in 2019-2020 season

By Garrett Chorpenning

US basketball player Kawhi Leonard speaks during a press conference introducing Leonard and Paul George as new players on the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles on July 24, 2019. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
US basketball player Kawhi Leonard speaks during a press conference introducing Leonard and Paul George as new players on the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles on July 24, 2019. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images) /
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US basketball player Kawhi Leonard speaks during a press conference introducing Leonard and Paul George as new players on the LA Clippers in Los Angeles on July 24, 2019. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
US basketball player Kawhi Leonard speaks during a press conference introducing Leonard and Paul George as new players on the LA Clippers in Los Angeles on July 24, 2019. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images) /

Despite coming off the best season of his career, there are still a few areas where Kawhi Leonard could improve in his first year with the LA Clippers.

It’s been over two months since Kawhi Leonard agreed to join the LA Clippers, which is as weird to say out loud as it is to write. Here’s a guy that completely dominated the postseason in 2019 and delivered a title to the Toronto Raptors for the first time in franchise history — oh, and he ended a dynasty in the process.

All the while, Clippers fans were watching his historic run and wondering what it would be like for it to happen in their own city. Like Toronto, the Clippers entered the 2018-2019 season without a Larry O’Brien trophy on display at their team’s facility. Seeing someone like Leonard do such a thing was intoxicating. To make matters worse (or better, depending on how you looked at it at the time), Leonard had several connections to the Clippers, too.

Each game that Leonard played, it seemed as though the entire fanbase shifted back and forth about what his summer decision would be. One day hope was poison, the next day it was all we had.

That feeling of uneasiness didn’t dissipate until the morning of July 6, when Leonard reportedly agreed to come to Los Angeles. Two months and change after the fact, it still seems surreal.

All throughout the 2018-2019 season, Leonard was magnificent. He averaged career-highs in points (26.6) and rebounds (7.3), played his usual brand of defense, and in Doc Rivers‘ own words, looked “the most like Jordan” that we’ve seen since.

Going into this upcoming season, there will be a lot of expectations placed on Leonard, and this article probably isn’t going to help that. It does feel justified, though. After all, Leonard has never been better over the course of his eight-year career, and his name has never been more well-known.

The pressure to perform and succeed will be high, but he’s up to the task. The Clippers believe that, and surely he believes that as well.

Before going too far into what those goals are, let’s go on to the next slide.

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