It's not so much that he developed those skills when he got to the nba, offensively he's using the same skillset he always possessed, it's just that scouts didn't see those skills translating to the nba level with his lack of size and explosiveness. I always thought that whoever got him in the late 1st or early 2nd would be getting a steal if they let him play his Game and utilize his extremely high bball iq. But I had no idea he would succeed on this grand of a scale.
And him being a defensive beast like he is, that shyt cane out of nowhere. He always had the iq to know where to be on d, but lacked the physical ability to always be there. That nba strength and conditioning program is a muthafukka if you dedicate yourself.
This goes into what I was saying in another thread.
The NBA has started to get so much more complex on both sides of the ball, guys with really good bball IQ's are going to have a huge advantage over guys who rely on athleticism or skills alone. The last decade of NBA champs have been teams full of really high-IQ guys, not to mention some fantastic coaching.
Golden State: Curry, Draymond, Klay, Iggy
San Antonio twice: Duncan, Parker, Ginobli, Kawhi
Miami twice: Lebron, Battier, Wade, Ray once
Dallas: Nowitzki, Kidd, Marion
Los Angeles twice: Kobe, Gasol, Fisher
Boston: Garnett, Pierce, Rondo, Ray
I think that's why a lot of teams and players get underestimated - its hard for a casual fan to "see" high-IQ on the court, and yet it's making a bigger difference than ever.