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Popovich: Spurs were 'scared to death' prior to trading Hill for Leonard

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports / Action Images

Six years later, it's clear the San Antonio Spurs made a wise decision in moving guard George Hill to the Indiana Pacers in a 2011 draft-night trade for No. 15 pick Kawhi Leonard.

At the time, though, head coach Gregg Popovich and the rest of the organization had huge reservations about pulling the trigger on a deal.

"The toughest in whatever, 20, whatever years I've been coaching here as a head coach," Popovich told Bleacher Report's Jonathan Abrams about his feelings on the trade. "It's not even close. We were scared to death sitting in the room. I think it was the 15th pick, if I remember, and when we got to 11, 12, 13. Danny Ferry, our CEO, and I were looking at each other saying, 'Are we really going to do this?'

"(Hill) was one of my favorite players. He was important to us, but we needed to get bigger. … So in the end, we said we're going to roll the bones and we're going to do it, but I can't tell that at that point we knew that Kawhi was going to be what he is today. That would be an exaggeration."

Hill was a key cog coming off of Popovich's bench in 2010-11, averaging 11.6 points, 2.6 boards, and 2.5 dimes on 45.3 percent shooting in 28.3 minutes per game. He even saw a good chunk of playing time as a starter the year prior working alongside Tony Parker in the backcourt.

Now with the Utah Jazz, Hill - despite missing a large portion of the campaign due to injury - has evolved into one of the league's more underrated talents at his position, and a major ingredient in a roster holding down the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

What Leonard has accomplished in San Antonio, however, is on an entirely different level. Still only 25 years old, the San Diego State alumnus is the reigning two-time Defensive Player of the Year. He's already won a world championship, been named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, made two All-Star teams, and been part of the All-NBA First Team.

He's currently putting up 26 points, six rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game for the 60-17 Spurs.

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