Clippers coach has ‘no timetable’ for Kawhi Leonard but expects him to play this season
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue doesn’t see any chance Kawhi Leonard will miss the upcoming season because of inflammation in his right knee, but the team has “no timetable” for when the All-Star forward will play in a game.
The Clippers open the season Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns in their new arena, the Intuit Dome, and then have back-to-back games at Denver and Golden State the following weekend. Leonard will not play in any of those games as he strengthens his knee.
Because of his history of knee injuries, Lue was asked what the chances are that Leonard will miss the entire season.
The Clippers rule Kawhi Leonard out for their preseason finale after Tyronn Lue said he wasn’t sure if Leonard would play in the team’s regular-season opener.
“I don’t see those chances, but I’m not a doctor, either,” Lue said before the Clippers defeated the Sacramento Kings 113-91 in their final preseason game Thursday night. “But I don’t see those chances.”
Lue said the plan is to let Leonard get healthy and play him when the knee responds the right way.
“Like we said from Day 1, it’s going to take some time,” Lue said. “He’s going to progress. He’s doing all the right things. He’s working hard and he’s looking good. So, there’s no timetable, or nothing like that. Nothing has changed from Day 1. Still working to get him to where we’re trying to get him to. And, so, until he’s 100% and he’s able to go and we have no concerns about him doing anything different, then we just got to continue to follow the path we’ve been on.”
When asked if Leonard’s knee has to be 100% healthy before he can play in a game, Lue said, “Yes.”
The Clippers started training camp in Hawaii on Oct. 1 and have been practicing in Inglewood since returning home, but Leonard hasn’t practiced with the team.
Executive Lawrence Frank said swelling in Kawhi Leonard’s right knee has decreased but there is no timetable for his return to play as he regains strength.
Lue was asked when Leonard will be able to do on-court practice with teammates.
“He’s feeling good,” Lue said. “He’s progressing. He’s going in the right direction, doing all the right things. So, soon he will be on the court, but not yet.”
Leonard, 35, missed the final eight games last season and played in just two games of the first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks because of his knee. He was sent home from USA Basketball practice before the Olympics in July because of the knee, with the goal of getting it ready for the season.
Lue, an assistant on the U.S. team, said Leonard was doing well before he was removed from the roster.
“He felt good, he looked good,” Lue said. “The swelling was down. Everything was going in the right direction. So, he had worked hard to get to that point and then once you start playing, you never know what’s going to happen. But he was in position, we thought, in the right position to go forward. It was a setback. That was unfortunate.”
The Clippers’ president of basketball operations says the team is also considering if there’s “a better fit” somewhere for Russell Westbrook.
After Leonard was sent home from Las Vegas, Lue maintained, he hasn’t had a setback.
“No setbacks, just working towards the goal,” Lue said. “Like I said, he looks good. He’s working hard to get to where we need him to get to and there hasn’t been any setbacks, no.”
Leonard, who is in the first year of his three-year, $152.4-million extension, has dealt with injuries since signing with the Clippers as a free agent in 2019.
Kawhi Leonard’s health, Tyronn Lue’s future and potential contracts for Paul George and James Harden are among the offseason unknowns facing the Clippers.
Leonard suffered a partial tear of an anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that sidelined him for the 2021-22 season, a meniscus tear during the 2023 playoffs and now the knee inflammation that is impacting his playing time across two seasons.
He has played in just 229 of 410 regular-season games since joining the Clippers. The 68 games he played last season, however, were his most since 2016-17.
“The guys understand we’re going to compete, we’re going to play hard, we’re going to win until Kawhi gets back,” Lue said. “We’re going to hold it down until he gets back, and that’s those guys’ mindset. As much as Kawhi wants to be on the floor and the hard work he’s putting in to get there, we’re going to hold down until he gets back.”
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