LA Clippers Rumors: Kawhi Leonard to play in multiple preseason games
LA Clippers’ head coach Doc Rivers announced that Kawhi Leonard now may play in multiple preseason games after he was initially expected to sit out.
Thursday night’s preseason game against the Denver Nuggets just got that much more interesting. According to LA Clippers’ head coach Doc Rivers, Kawhi Leonard may now play in the team’s first preseason game at home.
Not only that, he may play in the team’s other game against the Dallas Mavericks on October 17. Get out there and buy those tickets!
This preseason news comes as a shock after Doc initially seemed complete against having Kawhi suit up at all prior to the regular season.
Doc Rivers says there’s a chance Kawhi Leonard plays tomorrow vs. Denver and he now expects Kawhi will play in 1-2 preseason games.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) October 9, 2019
Just as recently as yesterday, Doc was still against Leonard participating. Something must have changed his mind.
Leonard sat out 22 games last season due to Toronto’s load management strategy but told the media and fans during his inaugural press conference that there was no concrete plan in place with the Clippers. As we can see from Doc changing his mind, this will be a very fluid situation.
Kawhi has been (obviously) running with the first team during practice. The other four players in that starting lineup include Terance Mann, Landry Shamet, JaMychal Green and Ivica Zubac. Doc did note that he expects every spot outside of Leonard and Paul George to be fluid.
Getting Leonard on the court in live-action will greatly help the chemistry on the team. We already know that Paul George will miss the first few weeks of action as he recovers from surgery on both shoulders, so getting Leonard and the rest of the team on the same page is key.
Even though he is playing, don’t expect to see a lot of run from Kawhi in these two games. There are players to evaluate and cuts to be made, so the team will more than likely focus more on getting those guys minutes, especially in the second half.
Next. KD compliments Kawhi, says Clippers are favorite. dark
It’s exciting that Clipper Nation is finally going to see one of our superstar acquisitions on the court, even if it is only for a short stint. Doc obviously hasn’t confirmed anything yet, so keep checking back here for all your Clippers’ news and updates!