Swishes with Sampson is back, and I’ve circled the NBA to bring you an excellent buffet of delicious mind-food lined up for your taking. There are no rules to this game I play, and the objective is simple: I pick out four things I think deserve more hype and bring them to light.

In this episode, we’ll cover Enes Kanter’s insane rebounding abilities, Victor Oladipo’s even more insane three-point shooting numbers, Kawhi Leonard’s return to the hardwood, Aron Baynes defensive superpowers and—as always—the weekly TPA King. That sounds like a bottle of fun.

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

1. Kawhi Leonard’s Return to the Hardwood

Kawhi Leonard made his season debut for the San Antonio Spurs in an 89-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. Overall, he was impressive in his first action since suffering an ankle injury in a game against the Golden State Warriors on May 14th by posting 13 points, six rebounds, one steal and one block in only 16 minutes of gameplay. The Spurs were also plus-8 when he was on the floor.

During his absence, the national perception of Leonard slipped a bit, as we’ve seen San Antonio experience success without its All-Star. He went from a player who was a tiny bit overrated at the end of last season to flying under the radar once again and having to prove himself all over. And based on his play Tuesday night, that shouldn’t be an issue.

The two-time All-Star went to work early and often, showcasing the all-around game that makes him so special. With the Spurs trailing by six points two-and-a-half minutes into the game, Leonard started in the corner and performed an L-cut up the lane to receive the pass at the top of the wing. As his teammates walked their men into the corners and low post, Pau Gasol came up from the opposite elbow to set a high pick-and-roll:

Harrison Barnes tried to fight over the screen, while Dirk Nowitzki stalled Leonard from getting to the hole. The small forward wasn’t looking to get that far and instead hit Nowitzki with a slick deke inside before performing a mini backward hop-step into a jumper. He does a great job squaring his body up with the rim while in mid-air, ensuring his shot would go straight into the hoop.

The former San Diego State Aztec abused his defender in the post on a few other occasions, using a plethora of face-ups, mock spins and shot fakes to get the looks he wanted.

Defensively, he made his presence felt throughout his short time on the court. The fluky steal and block aside, the Mavericks always seemed to have one eye peeled to his whereabouts. The few times he was matched up on Barnes or Wesley Matthews, they hesitated to attack the former Defensive Player of the Year, with the Mavs going 1-of-3 on shots defended by Leonard.

No matter which side of the court you look at, this was a great start for San Antonio and its forward. The Spurs already sits in third place in the top-heavy Western Conference and now regain one of the top five two-way players in the entire league. I wouldn’t be surprised if they klaw their way closer to the top of the standings.

2. Enes “The Menace” Kanter

If you go to Basketball-Reference’s homepage and type in “Enes Kanter,” you’ll notice the only nickname listed for him is “Enes the Menace.” And that’s all he needs, as it perfectly sums up his abilities on the glass.

On the season, he’s averaging 19.4 rebounds per 100 possessions (seventh in the NBA), surpassing his career high set in 2015-16. Furthermore, he’s recorded 16 or more boards five times this season—something only DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard and Andre Drummond have done more often. This prowess is a huge reason why the New York Knicks are snatching 52.7 percent of all available rebounds, with only the Philadelphia 76ers grabbing a higher percentage.

It’s not just how many missed shots Kanter’s pulling down that’s impressive, even though that deserves notoriety in and of itself. It’s the fashion in which he’s snatching these away from his opponents.

The big man displays his beast-like skills as a rebounder by ripping down 16.6 percent of all available offensive rebounds, which ranks first in the league. The way he perpetually moves toward the basket when the attempt goes up, putting himself in the best possible position to succeed in bringing down the missed shot, is a nightmare for opposing centers. His instinctual ability to read the ball in the air and determine where it’s likely to bounce after hitting iron also allows him to gain a head start and increases the likelihood he’ll come down with the board:

As soon as Kanter realizes the shot’s going up, he slinks to his position on the very low block to try to outmuscle his man out of the paint and grab the brick. However, as soon as the ball leaves the shooter’s hand, he realizes it’s going to come off the opposite side of the hoop, which compels him to contort his body around the restricted area and into impeccable position on the weak side.

The Turkish center also relies on his incredible strength to make up for his lack of elite hops, often (legally) pushing around grown men as if he was back at Stoneridge Preparatory school in California:

Kanter does a great job here of getting lower than All-NBA center Marc Gasol, which allows him to take advantage of that Hulk-like strength. It’s also rare to see offensive players boxing out the defense, but that’s exactly what makes him so successful. He’s such a fundamentally sound player he’s been able to survive, and thrive, in this three-point-crazed version of the NBA with only 108 attempts from downtown in his career.

Once he gets those mitts on the ball, you better believe it’s staying high and away from the defense and going right back up toward the hoop. This prevents the little gnats around the basket from swiping it away and stealing the glory for themselves.

Unfortunately, this style of play has its downfalls, due to the amount of wear and tear racked up by the body. If Kanter can stay healthy the whole season, however, expect him to become just the 12th player in NBA history to record five or more offensive rebounds per 36 minutes.

3. Victor Oladipo and the Terrific 3s

Victor Oladipo is a man on a mission this season. And that mission is to prove his worth as an All-Star-caliber player.

The former No. 2 overall pick wallowed in Monta Ellis territory throughout his first four years in the league—a high-volume, low-efficiency, undersized scorer. Fortunately, that’s all changing for the ex-Indiana Hoosier, as he’s taking and making a hell of a lot more threes than ever before. To be sure, he’s also lofting up a lot more shots than at any point in his career, which comes with the territory of functioning as your team’s primary playmaker.

The key to his success lies not with the attempts from downtown, but rather the makes. After never connecting on more than 36.1 percent of his outside shots, he’s drilling a career-high 44.4 percent so far this season. That’s likely to average out as the year wears on, but let’s not bask in the negativity—this is a family-friendly program, after all.

With someone like Oladipo on a team like the Indiana Pacers, it’s only natural he’s going to have the ball in his hands a lot. His usage percentage of 31.0 supports that, as he’s near Russell Westbrook territory (33.2). Most of his shot attempts are going to come off the dribble instead of the catch-and-shoot variety, and as Kevin O’Connor notes in his timely article, shooting off the dribble was something ‘Dipo worked extensively on this offseason.

It shows. He’s knocking down 44.2 percent of his pull-up threes so far, better than off-the-dribble artists such as James Harden (41.1) and C.J. McCollum (42.6).

However, as last week showed, the fifth-year guard isn’t just a one trick pony knocking down treys off the bounce.

Starting with his game against the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 6 until his career-high 47-point output against the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 10, Oladipo went three-crazy, attempting at least 10 outside shots per game. In total, he tried 35 long-balls, connecting on 16 of them for a 45.7 percent success rate. Of those 35 attempts, he went 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) on catch-and-shoot opportunities and 9-of-23 (39.1 percent) on pull-ups.

All this success from behind the arc will only help Oladipo as the season goes on. He’ll continue finding defenders creeping closer and closer to him, allowing him to use his excellent speed and acceleration to get into the lane. As soon as defenders back off a bit, afraid of his driving ability, he’ll find the three-point shot available again. This vicious cycle will, hopefully, continue as he makes a push for his first All-Star appearance in February.

4. Aron Baynes—The Not-So-Secret, Secret Defensive Weapon.

By this time, most people are aware of the positive impact Aron Baynes has on the Boston Celtics’ defense. The bruising center out of New Zealand does a great job commanding the paint and not allowing any easy buckets around the rim. The way he makes other teams struggle for their points is indicative of the hard work he puts in.

With Baynes on the court, the Celtics’ defensive rating sits at 91.9—7.7 points better than their league-leading mark of 99.6 points allowed per 100 possessions.  Their opponents also shoot worse field-goal and three-point percentages with the big man roaming the middle and making his presence felt.

However, that presence looks a lot different than that of your typical, run-of-the-mill defensive center because sometimes the key to being a good defender isn’t to make the crowd-pleasing blocks. It’s simply to make life more difficult for your opponent, which is exactly what Baynes does.

Without doing too much, the fifth-year player makes an important rotation to disrupt this whole play for Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks:

He begins the play by sagging off his man, who has the ball near the top of the key. This alone is a smart strategy, no doubt implemented by Boston’s coaching staff, as there’s no reason to respect John Henson’s jumper that far out. By dropping to the elbow, he clogs the lane that much more for the inevitable drive by Antetokounmpo. As soon as the Greek Freak catches the pass from Henson, that’s exactly what he tries to do.

Fortunately, Baynes was already in a good help position and takes one last big step toward the baseline to fully cut off the attempt by the ball-handler. This forces the Bucks forward to spin back out and over his right shoulder—an unnatural move for a righty and one that created a difficult shot attempt.

Throughout the whole possession, Baynes held his hands above his shoulders and actively deterred passes from swooping through open gaps. This allowed him to also discourage Antetoknoumpo from attacking the lane with a full head of steam, instead stopping him in his tracks.

His great understanding of his role in help defense allows him to do the dirty work early and set his team up for a more favorable outcome through the rest of the possession. He’s constantly the last line of defense and the biggest obstacle between an opposing team and two points:

After Eric Bledsoe pushes the ball up the floor,and slices through two Celtics defenders, Baynes is left in a daunting one-on-two situation. With his hands up as soon as Bledsoe crossed half court, he slides his feet to get in front of the point guard and impede his progress to the hoop. The ball is then bounced to Henson, who tries to attack Baynes’ outside shoulder as he’s sliding back into position on his man. However, the Celtics center is too quick to react and, with his hands already high, sends Henson’s shot to the corner where the three-point attempt is then clanked off the iron.

In the end, success comes down to an absence of complications for Baynes and Boston’s defense. And being that he’s a simple man, it’s just a matter of simple execution.

5. TPA King from 12/4-12/10: LeBron James

LeBron James becomes just the second-ever winner of Swishes with Sampson’s weekly TPA King award, so shouts to him. He’s a deserving member of this elite group, posting a score of 40.73 last week—the highest score in the vaunted history of this series.

One of the biggest challenges in guarding James and the Cleveland Cavaliers is the lineup versatility he can give you. In a league moving toward positionless basketball, the King is the founder of this movement, and that was never more apparent than in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 9th.

With the Cavs trailing 13-3 to the Joel Embiid-less Sixers midway through the first quarter, head coach Tyronn Lue decided to try an experiment of sorts. He substituted Jeff Green for Ante Zizic, giving them a lineup of James, Green, Jae Crowder, J.R. Smith and Jose Calderon. Essentially, James was the point guard on offense and the center on defense.

This strategy immediately paid dividends, as J.J. Redick was switched onto LeBron and subsequently taken to the hole for a layup and two points. The very next play, Crowder tapped out an offensive rebound to Smith after a long three, who then threw an alley-oop to James for two more points.

Offensively the lineup was working, but they were struggling on the other end of the floor, as they were only able to cut the deficit to nine points. That’s where one final tweak was made, and Dwyane Wade and Kyle Korver entered for Calderon and Smith.

This was the perfect alteration, and it allowed the Cavs to effectively switch all screens both on and off the ball, giving them a huge lift as the 76ers didn’t have anyone on the floor who could take advantage of their superior size down low. Watch here as Cleveland switches four separate times on this possession alone:

This was the first time Lue unleashed the James-Green-Crowder-Korver-Wade lineup this year, and he immediately saw huge results. They ended up playing seven minutes together and tallied an offensive rating of 128.8 and a defensive rating of 43.2! Ultimately, Cleveland won the game, in large part due to this unique combination of players.

This lineup wouldn’t work against every NBA team—or even the majority. But it does highlight the leverage James can give his team at any moment. The ability to trot him out at any position means opposing teams are never quite sure for what they should prepare. This proposition puts them in between a rock and a hard place while game planning, and it’s the reason LeBron is your new weekly TPA King.

Follow Brian on Twitter @BrianSampsonNBA.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all stats are from NBA Math, Basketball Reference or NBA.com and are current heading into games on December 13.