With per week left for the beginning of the 2024-25 NBA season, Kawhi Leonard has but to observe with the Clippers.
The celebrity ahead continues to rehab his knee after present process a process within the offseason. A swelling in the identical knee pressured him to overlook a piece of the playoffs final season and reportedly performed a component in his withdrawal from Group USA’s squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Leonard was initially slated to play just a few preseason video games forward of his staff’s opening-night fixture in opposition to the Suns on Oct. 23. Nonetheless, Clippers head coach Ty Lue confirmed Monday that the defensive ace won’t swimsuit up for his or her preseason finale in opposition to the Kings on Thursday after skipping the primary three exhibition contests.
“Proceed to maintain rehabbing. Hold getting higher. Hold checking the bins,” Lue stated of the Clippers’ plans for Leonard, through ESPN.
Throughout media day, Clippers front-office head Lawrence Frank stated that Leonard wished to take part in “every little thing in coaching camp,” together with preseason video games and scrimmages.
Subsequently, Leonard sounded too optimistic about returning to full health in time for the beginning of the season. Nonetheless, his continued absence from on-court motion — not to mention his lack of ability to observe in scrimmages — is a trigger for concern for the Clippers.
“I really feel good,” Leonard stated earlier this month, through ESPN. “Simply been taking my time, getting stronger and preparing. “We’re simply taking it sluggish, day-to-day and simply attempting to get me again on the ground. As soon as these conversations come, we’ll see what they’re speaking about [on the best approach for back-to-backs].”
The priority is amplified resulting from Leonard’s harm historical past and the thriller surrounding a few of his previous setbacks. In the course of the 2023 playoffs, Leonard appeared wholesome within the first two video games in opposition to the Suns, averaging 40.2 minutes. He would skip the remainder of the collection after it was later revealed he suffered a torn meniscus.
An identical sequence of occasions transpired in 2024 as Leonard performed in solely two of the Clippers’ six postseason video games in opposition to the Mavs resulting from a swelling in his knee.
