People said that about Dirk his first 10 years in the league. Or Steph Curry two years ago. Once a player wins a title I think we change our previous perspective of him. Hell many said the same about LeBron and Jordan 6 years into their careers.
Honestly, best case scenario, he's Duncan. A quiet dude that leads by example. It's hard to peg that though because Duncan had Robinson. The Spurs are such a strange situation to compare though because they're such a system team. Everyone player is a cog in the system. It's not like Kobe with the Lakers or Durant with the Thunder or even Dirk with the Mavs.
People rip on the Lopez contract; but I still like him better than Asik and they are paid basically the same.