As soon as December began, the Pacers had bad news. Paul. George suffered a ligament strain in his right leg during training and needed to rest for 2-3 weeks.

Injuries are unpredictable and inevitable. Even if Henson already has a badge to reduce injuries, it doesn't mean that he can completely eliminate injuries. How to deal with fatigue, how to deal with injuries, how to deal with the hardships of the players caused by the exhaustion of the tournament and the passion that fades as the season progresses are all things that young teams need to be wary of.

"Don't worry, Henson, George's injury isn't serious. Besides, we still have Stephenson to replace. Seeing Henson standing sullenly on the sidelines, Vogel couldn't help but pat Henson on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement.

"Stephenson hasn't been made yet, and that guy's shooting options and shooting accuracy are still a mess." Henson shook his head, he couldn't get fat in a day, and he didn't expect Stephenson to cash in on his talent so quickly. But at this moment, the team does need a consistent second team scorer.

But there are some things that just can't be rushed. George couldn't have grown into superstars overnight, and everyone had to go through that process, including Henson himself.

With George's injury, the cold December looked bleak. The trees lining the street in front of Henson's house were bare trunks, and the original shade was now covered with snow.

George's injury made Henson start to worry about Granger, after all, Granger's huge gap between the upper and lower limits suggests that Henson Granger may have a major injury. If Granger suddenly falls one day in the future, Henson really doesn't know how he will cope with the loss of his star in the future.

However, December was not without good news. Take, for example, the rookie report that Silas sent to himself.

On the first day he got the footage, Henson couldn't wait to study it all night.

On the screen, the tall and skinny guy wearing the No. 15 jersey of San Diego State University dribbled the ball in front of the defender without saying a word, and he suddenly accelerated, cut in on the right side, full of explosiveness, and strode in!

In the face of the panicked student players, the No. 15 held the ball high and easily put the ball into the basket with his bounce and long arms.

There was no flamboyant celebration from the young people, and Henson didn't even see any expression on this guy's face. In this way, he actively retreated. Stand at the top of the arc outside the three-point line, open your long arms, and those big hands.

The opposition defender took cover to get into the box, and his pace was beyond the reach of Santiago's hulking centre-forward. I saw that the little guard accelerated to the basket and hugged the basketball to dunk.

At this time, it was still the 15th of Santiago, and he came first, and a big hand covered the sky and the sun, and there was no light under the basket!

"Bang!" The basketball is pressed on the board, and the dunk is blocked!

No. 15 looked at the opposing defender, still expressionless, and did not give a look.

Next round!

This picture is just the routine operation of this young forward named Leonard in the NCAA arena. Silas wouldn't be stupid enough to cut a highlight show for Henson, after all, just look at the highlights, and the league is Jordan.

However, even in the complete game video, the wonderful offensive and defensive scenes just now can be seen from time to time.

The figures of some superstars seem to flash by Leonard.

Will he be an Indiana superstar? Henson didn't know because he could only see a person's potential and upper and lower limits through the data analysis module. But just through the videotape, Henson also found a little potential in this guy to become a star.

Silas' player report to Henson detailed Leonard's basketball career from high school onwards.

At the age of 16, his father was shot dead in a car wash. Twenty-four hours later, the tall, lanky 16-year-old scored 17 points in the game to help Martin Luther King High School crush his opponent. Then he stepped off the pitch and buried himself in his mother's arms, without saying a word.

Silent and expressionless, this seems to be Leonard's label. This can't help but remind Henson of the Spurs' No. 21, the big man who didn't dare to swim in the sea because he was afraid of sharks, but finally broke the "shark" championship dream several times in the NBA.

Duncan has that talent, and Henson seems to see it in Leonard as well.

There are many kinds of talents, such as bounce, bounce speed, height, arm length, ...... But these are not Leonard and Duncan's most special talents, Duncan and Leonard's most valuable talents are buried emotions and low-key efforts.

Leonard knew he had to work hard, and he fought desperately to play ball to comfort his heavenly father and make his mother no longer a toiling woman who worked several jobs a day.

Perhaps because of Leonard's low-key personality, or because his scoring stats are not so explosive, Kawaii. Kawhi Leonard, one of the four freshmen who ranked first on the team in scoring and rebounding, is not very high in the prediction draft rankings.

Silas included ESPN's latest draft projection rankings in his report, and Leonard didn't even finish in the top 20. Henson couldn't help but smile, this situation is really like last year's Paul. George.

Hopefully, the No. 15 guy named Leonard can keep up this excellent form and maintain his low-key and humble qualities. Because only in this way can the Pacers get the best of both worlds between the playoffs and Leonard.

After watching all of Leonard's footage and materials, Henson immediately made a phone call to Silas. He told his old buddy that he had Leonard on his radar this season, regularly sending him player reports and game footage.

While Silas is a video analyst, Henson prefers to have this discerning guy do the scouting job. Henson has been a scout himself, so he knows how important a scout with a good eye is to the team.

Since the Pacers don't have that kind of scout at the moment, let Silas replace him.

"It's okay to focus on Leonard, but I have bad news for you, Henson."

"God, I've had enough bad news here since December." Henson touched his forehead helplessly, "Say, man, what's the bad news." ”

"At San Diego State University, I discovered Trajan. Langton. I think the people of San Antonio may have noticed Cavai, too. ”

"Langton!? yes, who else? Damn the San Antonio Spurs! Henson shook his head, Trajan. Langton, the San Antonio Spurs' chief scout. Hasn't this kind of excellent player with a low pick always been the favorite of the Spurs?

"Langton didn't recognize you, did he?" After learning the news, Henson knew that if he really wanted to pick Leonard, then in addition to continuing to observe, Henson must also start making some preparations.

"He didn't see me, and even if he did, he wouldn't necessarily know me. When he was a player, the Hornets tried to recruit him, but it didn't work out. Now that I think about it, it's good that he didn't play under me in the first place. ”

Silas still knows something about Langton. Langton was drafted by the Cavaliers with the 11th pick in the first round in 1999, and after three tepid seasons with the Cavaliers, Langton's performance did not live up to expectations, so the Cavaliers did not execute his fourth-year contract. Langton became a free agent in the summer of 2002, and he could only play shooting guard at 1.9 meters, but because he couldn't switch to point guard, the Hornets who were close to him eventually lost interest in him, so he had to set his sights on Europe. Coincidentally, Silas was the interim head coach of the Hornets at the time.

After Langton returned from Europe, the Spurs hired him as a scout because of his extensive resume in Europe, where he was responsible for scourcing talent for the team. The Spurs were able to become the way they are today and the likes of Ginobili and Parker in Europe are inextricably linked.

As everyone knows, Langton is now also beginning to set his sights on the United States.

But it's a good thing that Langton didn't settle in the Hornets in the first place, otherwise he wouldn't have recognized Silas.

It seems that now, the Spurs don't know that the Pacers have set their sights on Leonard, and Henson also breathes a sigh of relief.

Because when your opponent doesn't know what you're thinking, you always take the initiative. It's as if this summer, the Pacers know the current state of the Hawks, and the Hawks don't know anything about why the Pacers need a trade.

"Don't let anyone recognize you in the future. We need to get this done quietly. "Henson looks at Leonard on the TV screen, will he be that superstar of his own? Become a superstar like Westbrook and Kobe Bryant, leading the team on their own?

Perhaps, it's him.