They are an ideal match. They have been tied together from the start of Leonard's NBA career in the 2011 draft. On that night, Indiana and the
San Antonio Spurs had agreed on a deal sending
George Hill to the Pacers for the 15th pick -- provided a certain player the Spurs wanted was still on the board. San Antonio would not tell the Pacers who it was. When Indiana discovered it was Leonard, they contemplated backing out of the deal; they had Leonard around No. 5 on their own draft board.
"When Kawhi ended up being there, we had to think about taking him," David Morway, a key member of the Pacers' front office at the time told me in 2013. "But we already had Danny Granger and Paul George. That's what made it a little easier for us."
