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Toronto Raptors: Five Things That Must Happen For Kawhi To Win MVP

By Vimal Sivakumar

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 16: San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard (2) rests during the Los Angeles Clippers 115-92 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at the Staples Center at the Staples Center on December 16, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Elise/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 16: San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard (2) rests during the Los Angeles Clippers 115-92 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at the Staples Center at the Staples Center on December 16, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Elise/Getty Images) /
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San Antonio Spurs – Kawhi Leonard (Photo by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images) /

1. Play A Lot of Games

Arguably the biggest knock on Kawhi over the last year has been his questionable health. While the San Antonio Spurs cleared him to play last season, Leonard and his camp felt uncomfortable with how the team handled his injury and Kawhi ultimately missed 73 games in 2017-18. It is of great importance that, in his quest for MVP, Leonard plays at least 65 games during the 2018-19 season.

Make no mistake, the Raptors are a formidable team even without Leonard and they are playing in the NBA’s much weaker Eastern conference. That said, the Raptors have a great chance of being in the top half of the conference even if Leonard plays less than half a season.

In addition, taking a look back, the Raptors went 14-7 in 21 games without Kyle Lowry just two seasons ago. While Lowry is no Kawhi Leonard, or even DeMar DeRozan, this goes to show that the Raptors are a good team even without their “stars”. In order to win MVP, Leonard must prove that he is a key part of the Raptors’ roster. The best way to prove himself as an integral piece in Toronto would be for Kawhi to play in a large portion of regular season games next year and perform well (as we will discuss later) in those outings.

Moreover, the top 10 players in NBA.com’s final “Race To The MVP” ladder last season averaged a combined 71.9 games played. This is another clear reason Kawhi must play a significant number of regular season games next year to be mentioned in the MVP discussion. As indicated earlier, an MVP must prove their worth to their team and, because the last 19 MVP award winners all played at least 61 games in their award-winning campaign, games played will certainly be a key factor in Kawhi’s chances to win the league’s most coveted individual accolade next season.

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