The lengthy wait has come to an finish for each Los Angeles Clippers fan because the return of Kawhi Leonard is lastly decided.
Sources advised Shams Charania of ESPN that Leonard intends to make his 2024-25 season debut for the Clippers on Saturday as they’ll face the Atlanta Hawks at dwelling in Intuit Dome. The group’s harm report revealed that Leonard is questionable to play, however all indicators result in his return to aggressive play.
Per Chris Haynes, Leonard is feeling good and able to go, however the Clippers will nonetheless apply precautionary measures to guarantee that his comeback might be profitable.
Leonard’s return to play in opposition to the Hawks has been perceived already from final week. As such, the respective stories of Charania and Haynes additional validated this notion.
Since he initially participated within the group’s drills and apply classes in December, there was optimism that Leonard can be again sooner quite than later. However the Clippers celebrity nonetheless underwent loads of ramp-up procedures to finish his full rehabilitation.
Leonard notably underwent an offseason surgical procedure to deal with his proper knee irritation, preserving him out of Los Angeles’ motion up till this level. The harm dates again from the final 2023-24 season wherein he performed 68 video games — his most since 2016-17 — whereas averaging 23.7 factors, 6.1 boards, and three.6 assists.
The knee harm price Leonard and the Clippers within the 2024 playoffs as they bought eradicated by the eventual Western Convention champion Dallas Mavericks in six video games of their first-round sequence bout.
As Leonard recovered, the Clippers have performed an important job in holding down the road with out their fundamental man. Behind the management of James Harden and the potential All-Star 12 months of Norman Powell, L.A. defied odds by blazing for a 19-15 document — inserting them on the No. 7 spot of the West and simply 0.5 video games away of the fourth seed.
Including Leonard to this Clippers group can solely supply an elevated optimism for its fanbase. With Leonard’s manufacturing and star energy, L.A. is actually a group to look at who can ship critical noise because the season looms.
Ought to Leonard turn into wholesome and persistently accessible this time, the complete league must be cautious of the title potential that the Clippers are possessing.
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