Los Angeles Clippers ahead Kawhi Leonard has a process on his proper knee through the offseason, per Shams Charania. It’s the identical knee that saved Leonard out for the ultimate 4 video games of L.A.’s first-round playoff loss the Mavericks and received him changed on the Group USA Olympic roster in July. Clippers govt Lawrence Frank mentioned on Tuesday that Leonard might miss the beginning of the 2024-25 season.
Charania stories that Leonard might be “restricted to strengthening his knee to begin coaching camp, however group officers are optimistic about his progress.”
“His proper knee, the swelling has considerably gone down. It is virtually gone,” Frank advised reporters. “He needs to take part in all the things in coaching camp however we’re gonna maintain him again from drill work and actually concentrate on strengthening as a result of the purpose is to get him 100% so he can have a terrific season not simply this 12 months however for a few years. We’ll have an in depth plan, step-by-step, have goal measures to go from one part to the following however he is tremendous decided, tremendous excited, and may’t wait to get began.”
So here is the deal: Kawhi Leonard is harm, once more, and the Clippers are, but once more, optimistic. Cease me if you’ve heard this earlier than. Final January, the Clippers signed Leonard to a three-year, $153M extension, and that call is trying worse by the day.
It regarded unhealthy when he could not end the playoffs. It regarded worse when he could not play within the Olympics. And now we’re discovering out he had a beforehand unreported surgical procedure on the identical knee through which he has torn his ACL and meniscus.
It is unhappy, however the easy reality is that banking north of $150M on Leonard to be wholesome for a group that has already misplaced Paul George and is now leaning on James Harden to be a celebrity, and likewise keep wholesome, is simply unhealthy basketball enterprise.
Now, there may be precise enterprise to contemplate right here. The Clippers are opening a brand new area this 12 months they usually did not wish to do it with a rebuilding group. So that they signed Leonard. And now they’re presumably going to be opening this new area with Harden because the marquee identify, and they will be paying Leonard by most likely a whole lot of future accidents, too.
