SAN ANTONIO — Kawhi Leonard's 2014 NBA Finals MVP trophy isn't exactly stored forgotten in a basement somewhere, but neither is it the central piece of his home decorating scheme.

He keeps the prized piece of hardware on a shelf in the spare room at his house. When the Spurs' small forward returned to his native Southern California for the summer, he left the trophy behind altogether.

“It was just in San Antonio, collecting dust,” Leonard said.

Now presumably back to its original shine, the Finals MVP trophy represents the height of Leonard's potential.

Months after becoming the NBA's youngest Finals MVP since Magic Johnson in 1980, Leonard — who turned 23 two weeks after helping to bring a fifth championship to San Antonio — opened his fourth Spurs training camp Saturday aiming to build on the promise of last June.

For coach Gregg Popovich, the key to greater things can be found in Leonard's head, somewhere beneath his trademark cornrows.

“I'm probably going to talk to him more about consistency now,” Popovich said. “To be in that top echelon of players, it's a huge responsibility to come and do it every night. That's what I want to see him do now, defensively and offensively.”

Leonard earned MVP honors largely because of his work in the last three games of the Spurs' five-game romp over Miami, in which he averaged 23.7 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 68.5 percent and going toe-to-toe with the great LeBron James.

That final flourish obscured a rather pedestrian start to the series for the eventual MVP — twin nine-point, two-rebound efforts in Games 1 and 2 that fell squarely under the heading of “solid but not spectacular.”

The Spurs are hopeful Leonard's dazzling conclusion to the Finals might serve as a springboard to greater heights in the season to come.

“He knows he doesn't have to take a backseat anymore,” guard Danny Green said. “Offensively, he's a lot more comfortable, a lot more assertive, making plays and looking for his shot. And doing it confidently.”

A second-team selection on the NBA's All-Defensive team last season, Leonard already is regarded as one of the top two-way players in the league.

He averaged 12.8 points and 6.2 rebounds last season, both career highs, despite logging less than 30 minutes per game.

After taking the summer off from Team USA at the FIBA World Cup, Leonard is primed to shoulder a heavier workload this season. He believes more minutes, as much as anything, will help him meet Popovich's challenge for consistency.

“In the Finals, I'm playing 35 minutes a game, so I'm on the floor more and able to score the ball more and get more rebounds,” Leonard said. “I'm going to have to get consistent minutes to play at a consistent level like that.”

Entering the final season of his rookie-scale contract that will make him a bargain at $2.89 million this season, Leonard is eligible for an extension between now and Oct. 31.

There is optimism on both sides that a deal can be reached by that deadline.

If not, the player Popovich once dubbed the future face of the franchise will become a restricted free agent next summer. Either way, the Spurs have no intention of letting Leonard loose.

“He's special because he can bring it at both ends of the court,” Popovich said. “It's going to be about consistency more than trying to teach him a new move and say, 'Start doing this because Larry (Bird) did it.'

“I want to be very careful about making Kawhi into Larry Bird or Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson. He's Kawhi Leonard. He's a young kid.”

Still, as Leonard's breakout performance in the Finals attests, the potential for stardom is there.

All Popovich expects from him this season is more of the same, night after night after night.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN