After the best season in franchise history, the LA Clippers are set to begin their 2021-22 season on Tuesday for the first day of training camp. Kawhi Leonard will be joining the team in San Diego for their training camp, but will not be able to work out with the rest of his teammates.
Leonard underwent surgery in mid-July to repair the partially torn ACL in his right knee. He appeared at Summer League without a brace on his knee or any kind of limp. While it let many to speculate as to whether or not he could return this year, Leonard's history of lower body injuries makes an quick return especially risky.
“Look, it’s a significant injury,” Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank said in a preseason press conference Friday. “That’s a significant rehab. He attacks it, he puts everything into it and he’s always looking for different ways he can expedite his recovery, but it’s gonna take time.”
The recovery timetable for any ACL related surgery can be anywhere from eight months to a year. Some athletes elect to take off more than the full calendar year and get their bodies back into proper game shape. That means Kawhi could return sometime in February or March and it also means he could miss the entire 2021-22 season.
Frank says it's far too early in his rehab to have any clarity on a timetable. Still, he didn't officially rule him out of a return at any point this year.
“We don’t even breach that,” Frank added. “I think at this point, it’s just no one knows when you’re dealing with a recovery from an ACL [injury], the timeframe. Just to save you guys throughout the year, no one knows. You just attack it day by day. He has a very detailed plan with a great group and we’ll just let his body and the doctors tell us when it's the right time.”
The Clippers plan to allow Kawhi Leonard to take as much time as he needs to rehab. If it means missing the entire year, so be it. Leonard agreed to a four-year, $176 million deal with the Clippers this offseason, securing his financial future as well as his future in Los Angeles.
The Clippers are coming off a year where they reached the Western Conference Finals, falling two games shy of the NBA Finals. Leonard missed the final eight games as his team went on to defeat the Utah Jazz, but fall to the Phoenix Suns.
Having experienced that from the sidelines, and occasionally, from a suite, Kawhi Leonard badly wants to join his teammates for another deep playoff run.
“Having been in these experiences, especially as a coach with someone who has an injury like this, you make their focus their recovery and that’s first and foremost,” said Lawrence Frank. “The team understands that and that’s how we’re going to proceed. Kawhi is very much engaged day-to-day with his teammates, with the coaching staff, with the front office talking about the team, talking about the guys coming in, watching, but we want his focus to be his recovery and support him in that.
Ahead of last week's groundbreaking event in Inglewood for the Clippers new stadium, the Intuit Dome, Chairman Steve Ballmer also wasn't willing to rule Kawhi Leonard out for the whole year, saying it's possible he returns. Like Frank, Ballmer agreed that it's simply too early to have an idea.
“Nobody knows at this stage,” Ballmer said. “Nobody knows. It’s possible. For sure, it’s possible. But it will depend on what the doctors say and what Kawhi says.”
The gap left on both ends by Leonard will have to be filled by the team collectively. Terance Mann and Luke Kennard, however, are expected to take the next big steps in their careers following the postseasons they had.
“I think Terance, you saw the confidence build throughout the year. You look at post-all star break, what he did, and then initially not be in the playoff rotation and then, obviously many people will think about the 39-point game against Utah, but there were a lot of positive contributions. He's had a tremendous offseason of growth, both skill level, I think confidence wise.
“Luke — we're really excited to see Luke this year, I think having a second year in Ty's system, and the growth he's made, he's been, you know, I think he's had a very, very productive offseason.”
Lawrence Frank said some of the Clippers offseason moves, which were moves to improve on the margins, were influenced by their belief in both Mann and Kennard.
“When you do have confidence in some of those guys you see as rising players as ready to take the next jump, it gives you confidence to make moves knowing that you are placing a bet that they are going to take another step. Whether there is a clear pathway for them to play or like anything in any trade or any free agency decision, it is always a series of choices. And you are always going to forfeit one thing to gain another. And you just weigh it in, you don’t put it in a vacuum, you look at it in its totality. So the confidence that we have in guys like Terance and Luke to be able and be willing to make the moves we did, as a whole we saw it as big picture it could help us make a jump.”
The Clippers plan to allow Kawhi Leonard to take as much time as he needs to rehab. If it means missing the entire year, so be it. Leonard agreed to a four-year, $176 million deal with the Clippers this offseason, securing his financial future as well as his future in Los Angeles.
Leonard averaged 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.6 steals per game for the Clippers last year on 51.2 percent shooting from the field, 39.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 88.5 percent from the free throw line.
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