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#8 The San Antonio Spurs trade George Hill for Kawhi Leonard
After the 2010-11 season, the San Antonio Spurs had been knocked out of the first year for three straight years and were looking for a change and the infusion of youth. They changed the trajectory of their franchise with a draft-day trade in 2011.
George Hill was one of the favourite players of Popovich but the Spurs at that point of time needed to get bigger. So the Spurs just went ahead with the deal and traded the then-reserve guard George Hill to the Indiana Pacers for the 15th pick in the draft. They used that pick to draft Kawhi Leonard. It was, according to Popovich, the toughest decision of his coaching career with the San Antonio Spurs.
Kawhi since then has blossomed into one of the best two-way players in the game and became the face of the Spurs franchise last year. Leonard’s transformation into a top 5 talent revitalized the Spurs. Although the big three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were the cornerstones that lead to the back to back Finals run in 2013 and 2014, it was Leonard's versatility that helped them win the championship in 2014, leading to him winning the Finals MVP.
While George Hill became a solid two-way point guard and went to two conference Finals with the Pacers, he never became the monster that Kawhi Leonard has turned into and therefore the tough decision for Popovich was worth it. Although Leonard leaving the Spurs might be inevitable, this draft day trade definitely worked in the favour of the Spurs.
