LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard has been cleared to take part totally in coaching camp subsequent week but the LA Clippers will proceed with “step-by-step” warning.
Lawrence Frank, Clippers president of basketball operations, mentioned Leonard’s first 5-on-5 participation will happen in camp, which begins subsequent Tuesday in Las Vegas.
“He feels great,” Frank mentioned on the staff’s follow facility. “His plan is, look, he wants to participate in everything. And I think organizationally, we’re going to be cautious. So it will be a step-by-step approach.”
Frank later added: “He is cleared. For him, he’ll say, look, I want to do everything. Again, we’ll be very cautious in the approach.”
Leonard missed the entire final season whereas recovering from a torn proper ACL suffered in Game 4 of the second-round playoff sequence in opposition to the Utah Jazz on June 14, 2021.
After spending three days coaching at UNLV, the Clippers will journey to Seattle, the place they will play their first two preseason video games on Sept. 30 and Oct. 3. Frank wouldn’t say but if Leonard will play within the preseason. The staff will take it daily and observe suggestions from Leonard.
“When you’re dealing with a major injury, you can’t predict,” Frank mentioned. “I know with him, he wants to do everything, but we’ll just kind of let’s see how he feels each day. We have an outstanding medical team, and we’re playing the long game with it. So we’re not going to get into predictions, what he will do or he won’t do.
“… We’ll determine, is that finest for his physique? One day it might be. The subsequent day, we’ll need to reassess. We’ll depend on the suggestions we get from Kawhi, clearly from the medical staff. It’s too early to foretell. We have time earlier than we have to get there.”
Frank also said that Paul George’s torn UCL in his right elbow is completely healed. George missed three months because of the injury last season before returning for five games late in the regular season. He played in the Clippers’ first play-in game but missed the second and last play-in game because of health and safety protocols.
“His elbow is 100% wholesome,” Frank said. “Paul has had an especially purposeful, pushed, and really productive low season, in that his consistency of coaching has been off the charts. Plus, he continues to take increasingly of an possession and management position. You know, he had rather a lot to do with getting John Wall to return right here.”
George and Leonard organized player workouts in the offseason in San Diego and Santa Barbara. One player who has been a steady presence in workouts is Wall, who signed with the Clippers the offseason. The former All-Star will compete with Reggie Jackson for the starting point guard spot.
The Clippers will be one of the deepest teams in the league this season and that depth will help if they need to ramp Leonard back up at a cautious pace.
“Basically, Kawhi’s performed quite a lot of managed basketball for a very long time,” Frank said. “Though 5-on-5 is considered to the layman as a benchmark, it is extra sophisticated than that. Ultimately, he retains trending in direction of with the ability to play in an NBA basketball recreation, and so he’ll simply proceed to take these steps in camp.”
Frank added: “We know what the massive image is. We know what our purpose is, and we will be very cautious and take a methodical method.”