3. It’s Kawhi Leonard
This is the most obvious reason of all not to worry, right? The last time I checked, Kawhi Leonard is still indeed Kawhi Leonard. We don’t really know what he was up to over the last few months but I can imagine he, like many others, was not able to play a ton of basketball. He probably has some rust.
Last season, we saw just how effective a driven Kawhi can be in the playoffs. He looked like the best player in the league, powering through a tough 76ers team, MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and a star-studded (albeit injured) Golden State Warriors on the way to his second Finals MVP.
This season, prior to the hiatus, Kawhi looked like himself putting up a career-high 26.9 point per game on 46.9% shooting, 6.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game.
We have to assume Kawhi will get back to somewhere near that level and we have no reason not to.