It's not just wishful thinking by Heat fans, or by media looking to cater to them.

National media members have made the comparison too. That includes Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated, who, in discussing his detailed cover feature on San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard on Wednesday on my show on 790 The Ticket, said that, after spending time with both Leonard and Winslow, he can see plenty of similarities.

So let's check in again, on where Winslow stands, compared to where Leonard was during his rookie season of 2011-12.

It's the right time to do it, considering that Winslow has already played the same number of games (64) that Leonard did as a rookie, in what was a lockout-shortened season.

......

Starts: Leonard 39, Winslow 8

Minutes per game: Winslow 28.6, Leonard 24.0

Points per game: Leonard 7.9, Winslow 6.4

Rebounds per game: Winslow 5.3, Leonard 5.1

Assists per game: Winslow 1.4, Leonard 1.4

Steals per game: Leonard 1.3, Winslow 0.9

Blocks per game: Winslow 0.4, Leonard 0.4

Turnovers per game: Leonard 0.7, Winslow 1.3

Effective field goal percentage: Leonard 54.3, Winslow 46.9

Offensive win shares: Leonard 3.1, Winslow minus-0.4

Defensive win shares: Winslow 2.4, Leonard 2.4

......

So, yes, Leonard was ahead.

But again, he was one year older than Winslow as a rookie.