The LA Clippers have done a fantastic job of turning what could have been a disaster of an offseason into a hopeful one. After losing Paul George and Russell Westbrook, it would have been easy to hang their heads and get down on their luck. But instead, the organization reloaded and will now have a chance to return to the playoffs in 2025 once again.
But when it comes to the Clippers' ceiling as a group, the conversation will always be centered around Kawhi Leonard. LA can be a good team this year, and potentially even a great one if the dominoes fall the right way. But they will have no shot of winning a championship if Kawhi is not healthy and at his best.
Clippers fans have been checking their phones for up-to-the-minute updates on Leonard's health ever since the spring, when he was first forced to miss games due to swelling in his knee. That injury lingered on into the postseason, causing him to miss four of LA's six first-round playoff games against the Dallas Mavericks.
From there, he was clearly still not right when July came around and he was preparing to suit up with Team USA at the Olympics. When he was sent home from the US Olympic team camp, fans began to have some serious questions about his health. We have known that his status has been up in the air since then, and that means updates are always very telling. So it was discouraging when the announcement came on Thursday that he has still not practiced with the team yet since training camp began.
Kawhi Leonard has not practiced with the Clippers yet.
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) October 10, 2024
Still rehabbing his knee.
Kawhi Leonard has still not practiced with the Clippers
This means that Leonard is still rehabbing his knee, and is still looking to get in the proper shape to begin the season healthy. While we can at least know that no setbacks have taken place and he remains on the trajectory previously discussed, the fact that he has not been able to practice with his teammates is a letdown for multiple reasons.
Kawhi had said at media day that the plan was for him to play on opening night, but things would still depend on how his body continued reacting to treatment and recovery. Clearly, his body has not been in good enough shape to take part in scrimmages and other workouts, which is certainly troubling.
There is also the aspect of Leonard missing out on valuable time to learn the tendencies of his many new teammates. A player as cerebral and tenured as Kawhi can usually pick things up on the fly, but there is still value to training camp and the various practices that take place before the season begins. The fact that he is missing these is not a good sign moving forward.