Leonard was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report reports.

Leonard beat out Golden State's Draymond Green by a slim margin, garnering fewer first-place votes than Green but tallying significantly more second and third-place votes. He becomes the first wing player to take home the award since Metta World Peace - then Ron Artest - in 2004. Leonard, last season's Finals MVP, missed a total of 18 games during the regular season, but that did not seem to impact his candidacy.

Leonard posted 18 points, six rebounds, three assists, and four steals in 33 minutes of action in Sunday's Game 1 loss to the Clippers.

Leonard posted a strong performance Sunday, but it wasn't enough to carry the Spurs against the hot Clippers. Still, Leonard has been fairly consistent throughout his career in the Playoffs, which could mean good things for the Spurs in Game 2.

Leonard scored 20 points (9-15 FG, 0-3 3Pt, 2-2 FT) with three rebounds, two assists and four steals in 35 minutes during Wednesday's win over the Rockets.

Leonard has been phenomenal lately averaging 20.5 points on 63 percent from the field, with 3.3 steals and 2.3 threes over his last five games. He will be hyped up again heading into next season and will likely cost you a top 20 pick to secure him on your team.

Leonard continued his scoring barrage Tuesday, finishing with 26 points for the second straight game and also putting up two rebounds, two assists, three steals, one block, and four three-pointers in just 24 minutes.

Leonard's only buggaboo in fantasy is the fact that he always misses a good chunk of games due to some Spursian injury. A Spursian injury is a normal injury for anyone else, but for a Spurs player, it's an injury that is going to require a prolonged stint in street clothes. San Antonio is always looking for ways to keep their players healthy for the long run, so they hold players out longer on injuries that other teams would be more comfortable bringing a player back on less rest, and they often rest players or give them reduced minutes. Leonard has scored 20-plus points in each of his last three games, and the most insane thing about that is that he's only played 24 minutes or less in each of those games. It's starting to get a little scary imagining how good Kawhi could be if he ever played 80 games in a season and averaged over 30 minutes per game the whole way.

Leonard picked up seven steals Sunday in just 24 minutes to go along with 26 points (11-17 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 3-4 FT), five rebounds and three assists.

Leonard now has at least one steal in 22 straight games, and has scored 20 or more points in four of his past five games. So far in April, he's shooting 60 percent from the floor in three games and has 10 combined steals.

Leonard recorded a steal for his 19th straight game Tuesday in a win over the Heat. He finished the game with 22 points (8-13 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 5-6 FT), nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and four steals.

Leonard has been on fire this month. He finishes March playing in 15 games and averaging 19.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.6 steals per game. In that stretch he had three double-doubles and six games with four or more steals.

Leonard scored 25 points Sunday (11-17 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 2-2 FT) and capped off a double-double with 10 rebounds in a win over the Grizzlies.

Leonard scored the first 15 points for the Spurs in the fourth quarter Sunday. He has now scored double-digit points in 17 straight games and is averaging 19.1 points per contested in March.

Leonard posted 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, and one steal in 32 minutes of action Friday against the Mavericks.

Friday's performance marked a rather average outing for Leonard, who is posting 16.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.3 steals for the season. He's a strong fantasy asset due to his production in multiple categories, and he should continue to be owned in all leagues moving forward.

Leonard lit up the stat sheet Sunday against the Hawks, scoring 20 points (8-14 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 3-4 FT) along with 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals in 32 minutes.

Leonard is having his best month of the season, averaging 19.8 points (53.6% FG, 40.7% 3Pt), 6.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 34.1 minutes per game. Leonard has been extremely efficient this month, but the only thing holding him back is coach Gregg Popovich who may rest Leonard or play him reduced minutes to prepare for the playoffs. He is a stud, but daily fantasy game players should be aware of a possible missed game due to rest for any of the starters on the Spurs for the rest of the season.

Leonard had five steals in a game for his second time in three outings. He finished the game with 15 points (6-13 FG, 2-2 3Pt, 1-1 FT), six rebounds, one assist and one block.

Leonard's defense has been outstanding lately, recording three or more steals in four out of his past six games. He's also shooting an incredibly effective 58 percent from the floor this month and is averaging 22.8 points per game.

Leonard scored 24 points (10-19 FG, 4-4 FT) with 11 rebounds, and five steals in 39 minutes Tuesday.

Kawhi has been playing heavy minutes recently, which has led to some solid fantasy stat lines, such as this one. The Spurs and Leonard are on a roll, so as long as the opposing team can keep the game tight, expect his minutes to remain high in the near future.

Leonard scored 22 points (9-18 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 4-4 FT) with 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the win over the Suns on Saturday.

Leonard's line had a chance to be even better, but the Spurs held a 27 point lead at halftime and put the game away for good by the end of the third quarter. Leonard's production across the board has him as a solid top 20 fantasy option again this season.

Leonard shot just 1-of-11 from the floor Thursday in a loss to the Clippers, and finished the game with just four points, six rebounds and six assists in 27 minutes.

This was a season low for Leonard, and is now shooting a combined 3-for-23 in his past two games. He does enough in the other categories to certainly be starting in all leagues, but the shooting slump has to have owners concerned.

Leonard (ankle) will start Wednesday against the Hornets, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

Leonard tweaked his ankle in the Spurs' last tilt Sunday, but the ailment won't stop him from taking his normal spot in the starting lineup. In three of the past four games, he's grabbed at least 14 rebounds, during which he's averaged 16.8 points (on 45 percent shooting), 11.8 rebounds, two assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.5 three-pointers in 32 minutes.

Leonard continues to rebound at an exceptional rate. He put up 19 points (4-11 FG, 1-5 3Pt, 10-12 FT), 14 rebounds, two assists, three steals, and one block in 36 minutes Sunday.

This was the second straight 14-rebound game for Leonard and his third double-double in the last four games. Over his last five games, Leonard has averaged 15.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 1.4 three-pointers in 31 minutes per game. Though the spectre of injury always seems to reduce Leonard's perceived value, he's putting up great stats. While he has more value in turnover leagues, Leonard's improved contributions lately are making him a better play in head-to-head leagues.

Leonard recorded a double-double with 17 points (6-13 FG, 3-6 3Pt, 2-2 FT), 15 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 30 minutes during Tuesday's victory over the Denver Nuggets.

It was Leonard's seventh double-double of the season in just his third game back after missing 15 games with torn ligaments in his hand. The 15 rebounds were a season-high for him, boosting his season average to 7.8 rebounds per game. It's safe to say he's over his injury and a must play in all fantasy leagues.

Leonard (hand) made his return Friday against the Trail Blazers after missing 15 games with a broken hand, scoring 20 points (8-18 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 3-4 FT) and finishing the game with four rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Friday's win was one of the most complete game for the Spurs all season, and having Leonard healthy was a big part of that. Now that he's healthy, Leonard immediately becomes one of the top small forwards in standard category leagues, considering he can do a bit of everything. In his 22 previous games this season, Leonard averaged 15.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals. Owners should feel comfortable using him every game now.

Leonard (hand) will start Friday's game, Project Spurs' Paul Garcia reports.

There will not be a minutes limit for Leonard, and coach Gregg Popovich said he will just monitor what Leonard's conditioning level is. There will be some rust to knock off, but he should be deployed in all season-long formats based on the across the board production he offers.

Leonard (hand) is probable for Friday's game against the Trail Blazers.

Leonard's expected return will likely push Austin Daye out of the starting lineup, though Daye was merely filling in for Marco Belinelli (groin), who is out for Friday's game. The real losers in terms of playing time will likely be Cory Joseph and Patty Mills, as a healthy Leonard means that Danny Green and Manu Ginobili will see fewer minutes as the nominal small forward. Of course, that isn't exactly a sure thing, so the Spurs' rotation will be worth keeping a close eye on. Leonard could perhaps be eased back in due to the length of his absence, but a hand injury probably didn't prevent him from staying in top shape.

Leonard (hand) has begun light shooting in the paint, the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald reports.

He is still expected to be sidelined for close to two weeks, and cannot fully extend his hand to take perimeter shots yet. Continue to monitor his status, and look for Marco Belinelli and Manu Ginobili to continue to see plenty of run in his absence.