True to any basketball game, the NBA has full of surprises. Changes that leave die-hard fans scratching their head for pure disbelief or jump out of their seats.

While trading and free agency signings are nothing new, the news of who changes what are still the biggest bombs the fans and basketball spectators need to contend with. 

Most surprising moves in the NBA world over the last 10 years.

1) LeBron James Left Cleveland Cavaliers to Join Miami Heat (2010 NBA Season)

James started it all when he ‘decided’ to join Miami Heat. His goal was to bring a championship to Cleveland, creating superteams with Chris Bosch and Dwayne Wade with them. Granted.

However, the drama involved was too much for the fans to take in when he was only heating up with Cleveland Cavaliers. James said it was a free agent decision, but was actually a trade he initiated.

2) Carmelo Anthony traded from Denver Nuggets to New York Knicks (2011 NBA Season)

A blockbuster trade that had the experts rolling, Anthony wanted to be with the Nuggets. However, talks about possible extensions failed. He was traded to the Knicks. 

Anthony upped his game with three-point shooting MVP-like efforts, but to no avail. Indiana Pacers robbed them as early as the second round. Still, New York Knicks appeared in three playoffs with Melo on the lead. Melo, along with Tyson Chandler and Amar’e Stoudemire, made up the “Big 3.”

3) Dwight Howard left Orlando Magic for Los Angeles Lakers (2012 NBA Season)

Howard is one of the big men in the NBA. He was expected to go somewhere (with speculations brewing as early as 12 months back), likely the Lakers whose men beat his team up in the finals leading to the trade. Howard’s other choices then were Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks.

It was his wish to be traded from Magic, which was in the process of rebuilding the franchise but without the NBA’s best centre at the time. 

4) James Harden left Oklahoma City Thunder to join Houston Rockets (2013 NBA Season)

In 2012, Oklahoma City Thunder was poised to become the next NBA champion with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook. Still, Harden was traded off despite being the 6th Man of the Year. His valuable scoring was overshadowed by the high luxury tax to resign him. An extension was discussed but did not materialise. 

Houston Rockets benefited from the trade, experiencing its first Finals, thanks to Harden and the rest of the team. Harden became a restricted free agent in the 2014 season. 

5) Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City Thunder for Golden State Warriors (2016 NBA Season)

Keen on an NBA championship that never came his way, Durant moved to the Golden State Warriors.

The 2017 NBA Finals proved to be a fruitful trade. Durant never came close to the finals despite winning four scoring titles and being the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) once. With the Warriors, his talent and potential could be appreciated more, than with the Thunder.

6) Kawhi Leonard left San Antonio Spurs to join Toronto Raptors (2018 NBA Season)

Another dramatic trade, Leonard, plagued with injuries in the previous season, requested for the said trade. Toronto Raptors took a risk and signed him in.

Both teams have been talking about the trade for months before its conclusion, noting that Leonard was a ‘very tough sell’ because he is. He was the previous seasons Finals MVP winner aside from being a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Leonard became a free agent in 2019.

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Other than the usual NBA team expansions and player turnover, new standards and rules are introduced from time to time. And much like how the three-point shot addition of the 1980s resulted in evolved team strategies, such periodic tweaks often lead to how each basketball game is played.

1) Centres no longer dominate the court

Big men dominated NBA seasons until 2010-2011 where there were only 13 giants on the court, from East and West. The majority of the players such as Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Love would spend most of their time on the perimeter if they were to play at all. While at it, they were the traditional centres. 

Indeed, the NBA is no longer the “big” man’s league it was 10 or so years ago. Nonetheless, the average height is at 6’7” and 220 lbs. And while there are still giants on the court these days, you can see more movements and actions including blocking shots and dunking from them than their counterparts a decade ago. 

2) Perimeter players are more crucial to a game

No position is more important than others. But the contributions of each are appreciated all the more today than in the 2000s or beyond. This is especially true today wherein each game is becoming more stringent than the last one. 

Nowadays, the rage revolves around being a guard or forward or assume the role whenever the need arises. Speaking of the perimeter, the handlers, jumpers, and shooters connive to dominate the court. This means centres can become shooters too, particularly those big men with the skills of a forward or guard.

Guards and forwards, of course, are expected to have decent defensive and offensive skills as well.

3) Three-point plays are taking over

The three-point shooting has come a long way since it was introduced. Today, a team recruit based on how a player makes plays and shoots balls. So stats such as field goal percentage and long-distance shooting accuracy and matter.

All 30 NBA teams have tremendously increased in their three-point attempts. In the 2017-2018 season, an average team has 28.98 attempts per game compared with that of in the 2007-2008 season with 18.04 attempts.

4) More possessions lead to bigger performances

The high volume of three-point attempts and makes result in two things: faster and more ball possessions and more triple-doubles league-wide.

Teams speed up their games deliberately to take advantage of three-point plays. Games are not only quicker; they have possessions 10x more on average. Furthermore, since a shot happens earlier in the shot clock compared with a close-to-the-basket shot, NBA teams and players alike had a higher chance of amping up their stats. 

More and more players–from Lebron James to Ben Simmons–accumulate more points, assists, rebounds, blocks and stills. As if the triple-doubles are not enough, they also break records – their own and that of the others. Milestones are reached on a nightly game basis. 

While it would be unfair for the NBA players to be compared by generations because of these changes, there is no denying how these tweaks have influenced all the teams’ game strategy. It all boils down to turning the tables and playing on what changed. Quite literally.

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Full Name: Kawhi Anthony Leonard 

Birthdate: June 29, 1991

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California 

Current team: Los Angeles Clippers

Position: Small forward

Years active: 2011 – present

Key statistics

• Known for his ball-hawking skills
• A physical marvel with 6’7” height and 7’3” wingspan
• Has won both Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year
• With six straight 30-point performance games
• Won the semifinals against Philadelphia 76ers with a 4.2-second buzzer-beater
• Scored 732 points and became the 3rd best scoring NBA player in history

Kawhi Leonard earned his moniker the “Claw” (or “Klaw” to denote the first letter of his name) because of his ball-hawking skills.

Sports Illustrated lauded Leonard’s strong work ethics as well as “physical marvel” with his 6’7” height and 7’3” wingspan. All the more, he knows how to use this to his advantage for defensive and rebounding purposes. Screening and eluding him on the court would be difficult.

One weakness of Leonard, however, was his weak offensive capabilities during his first few seasons with San Antonio Spurs. Another concern was his shooting skills, especially outside. And which he addressed by training off-season with his former San Diego State University’s strength and conditioning coach, Randy Shelton.

Anything he knows about basketball he was able to demonstrate throughout his seven-season stint with the Spurs. In 2014, he brought an NBA championship and named the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). He was technically the third youngest NBA player to win the said award; Magic Johnson held the first two positions. 

Leonard was also the 2014-2015 season’s Defensive Player of the Year. He was the third player to win both Finals MVP and this title, next to Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.

In the next three seasons, he set new records including back-to-back Defensive of the Year award, six straight 30-point performance games, Player of the Week for the fourth time, All-NBA First Team inclusion for two years straight, All-Defensive Team First Team award for three consecutive seasons, and career-high points game after game.

The 2017-2018 season was a controversial year for Leonard’s career. He only played 27 games due to a series of injuries (right quadriceps and left shoulder). Leonard was ruled out to pursue a right quadriceps tendinopathy rehabilitation procedure. 

The Spurs medical staff, on the other hand, gave him clearance to play. Leonard sought a second opinion, and the fallout among his management, teammates and him ensued. A players-only meeting was held in March, his teammates entreating him to start playing for the team. Leonard chose not to play any more game during the season.

In 2018-2019, Leonard was traded as per his request and became the key player of the Toronto Raptors. He led the team to its first-ever NBA championship with a 4.2-second buzzer-beater show–the first in NBA history. The small forward was also named the Finals MVP.

During the playoffs, he scored 732 points and became the third best-scoring player throughout NBA history. 

To date, Leonard has played 467 games with an average 30.8 minutes per game and 17.7 points per game. About 111 of these games were playoffs.

On July 20, 2019, he signed with Los Angeles Clippers. 

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