How does Kawhi Leonard get so many open shots?

The days of Kawhi Leonard flying under the radar are long gone. With an average of 26.2 points per game, he is the leading scorer on a Spurs team that is in position to steal the No. 1 seed from the Warriors heading into the final stretch of the regular season. His shooting efficiency hasn’t even taken a hit despite the increased workload. His true shooting percentage is practically identical to last season’s mark and he’s doing it on almost three more shot attempts per game.

Because he’s been one of the best scorers in the NBA this season, it’s surprising teams haven’t been able to prevent Leonard from getting as many open looks as he has. To this point, 48.5 percent of his shot attempts have been open or wide open (at least four feet away from the nearest defender), according to NBA.com, which is only a 0.9 percent decrease from last season. It’s also the most amongst the NBA’s leading scorers this season. LeBron James is the closest to Leonard with 47.0 percent of his shots being open or wide open followed by Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook and DeMarcus Cousins.

Everyone else in the top 10 in scoring falls under 40 percent.

None of the names close to Leonard’s should come as a surprise. Teams would rather let Westbrook, James and Cousins settle for 3s — the location of most of their open shots — than let them get into the paint and Lillard has the luxury of playing alongside another playmaker who can create for himself and others. Lillard also feasts on the type of deep 3-pointers opponents still aren’t used to contesting. Leonard, on the other hand, is without question the No. 1 option on the Spurs and he’s a threat to score whenever the ball is in his hands.

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Put it this way: Leonard is a more efficient isolation scorer than Westbrook, a more efficient pick-and-roll scorer than James Harden, a more efficient post-up scorer than Cousins, a more efficient spot-up shooter than Klay Thompson and a more efficient transition scorer than John Wall. Those five plays alone make up 20.1 of Leonard’s points per game this season. The fact that he still gets open for nearly half of his shot attempts despite those levels of efficiency is pretty remarkable.

Context is obviously important when making those comparisons. It’s much easier for Leonard to be a more efficient pick-and-roll scorer than Harden when he’s attempted 200 less shots out of the pick-and-roll than Harden on the season. It’s a similar situation with Cousins: Leonard has attempted 68 shots out of the post compared to 209 by Cousins. However, it’s Leonard’s ability to score efficiently out of each of those plays that make him such a difficult cover, which explains why he continues to get as many open shots as he does.

Consider the following possession against the Wizards. Pau Gasol sets a screen on Leonard in the corner to set him up for a hand-off from LaMarcus Aldridge at the elbow. Leonard has the room to pop for a 3-pointer at the top of the perimeter if he wants to, but he can see Otto Porter Jr. working hard to slip through the screen. It’s why Leonard immediately puts the ball on the floor to attack the basket rather than curl to the 3-point line like Porter expects him to.

In Porter’s defense, he probably thought Leonard would settle for the jump shot because this is what happened to him on the first possession of the game:

To rub salt in the wound, San Antonio ran a similar play less than a minute later and got a similar result.

The players surrounding Leonard also play a huge role in his success because what the Spurs lack in volume scoring they make up for in versatility. Except for Dewayne Dedmon and David Lee, everyone on the roster is comfortable stepping outside the paint and clearing the lane for Leonard to attack. Most of them can make the extra pass when the defense collapses too. Playing alongside smart players who can do all of those things often puts Leonard’s defender in the tough decision between helping their teammates or leaving him wide open on the perimeter.

We see this a lot when Tony Parker is involved in pick-and-rolls with Gasol or Aldridge. Because both of them are comfortable popping for midrange jump shots, a third defender usually has to get involved to cut off penetration or prevent someone from getting open. With Leonard being the one who is one pass away, it’s usually an easy read for Parker to make when he comes off of the screen.

Gasol and Aldridge can make the pass out to Leonard if they receive the ball from Parker and the defense collapses. Here’s Aldridge finding Leonard for a wide open 3-pointer out of the pick-and-roll against the Bucks:

And here’s Gasol creating a basket for Leonard against the Kings:

The same goes for when Leonard runs his own pick-and-roll. He isn’t a big facilitator — he’s only averaging 3.4 assists per game this season — but he’s more than capable of finding a teammate when they are open. And when that open teammate is Gasol or Aldridge, it puts the opposing big man in an incredibly difficult situation.

The tempo with which Leonard plays should stand out when he’s in the pick-and-roll. He doesn’t just sprint around the screen and attack the basket with a full head of steam. He takes his time. He forces the defense to make a decision by keeping his dribble alive and keeping his head up to survey the floor. If the big man doubles, he can whip a pass out to the open shooter. If they stand still or start to gravitate towards the perimeter, he can create a shot for himself with ease.

As you’re starting to notice, it’s not unusual for that shot to be a wide open layup or dunk.

Seriously, more dunks than you’d ever expect from a player as skilled as Leonard is.

There are a few other things Leonard does to shrug defenders off of him to create open shots. For example, he loves to get defenders up in the air with pump fakes…

…pass and relocate if a shot doesn’t immediately present itself…

…go coast-to-coast after picking someone’s pocket…

…and pull-up when a defender runs him off the 3-point line.

But it all boils down to Leonard being comfortable taking whatever the defense gives him. If he couldn’t space the floor as well as he does, defenders would simply back off of him. If he couldn’t create his own shot off the dribble with a pull-up, drive or post-up, quicker defenders would have more success pressing up on him. Throw in the fact that he is 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan and there isn’t much defenses can do when he gets a step on them.

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All you’ve got to do is ask yourself how you would defend Leonard assuming all things are equal. If you’re struggling for an answer — and you should be based on all this information — you can understand how he gets so open.

Stats are gathered from NBA.com and Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.