Kawhi Leonard is progressing well in his recovery from ACL injury, though Los Angeles Clippers fans shouldn't expect him to be NBA-ready any time soon.
In his latest mailbag, Law Murray of The Athletic shared some updates on Leonard's recovery from his injury, highlighting that while the All-Star forward is physically and mentally fine, he has yet to do five-on-five work.
As Clippers president Lawrence Frank shared to Murray, though, what matters for Leonard is his status come October since it will give the team a good idea on how far along he is in his recovery and whether or not he'll be ready for the start of the 2022-23 season.
“I was able to update Leonard’s status before the NBA Draft last month, and Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank affirmed Leonard’s positive progress the night of the draft. Everyone who has been around Leonard this offseason, both with the team and outside the team, have suggested that Leonard is physically ready for next season and is not carrying any mental angst that comes with a return from an ACL surgery,” Murray wrote.
“But we’re a long way until Leonard needs to be ready in October. Frank said that Leonard wasn’t playing five-on-five yet but the benchmark that matters is October’s preseason.”
Kawhi Leonard missed the whole 2021-22 season due to his ACL injury that needed surgery. With that, the Clippers were unable to make it to the postseason, losing in the play-in tournament.
As Leonard's return nears, however, hopes increase that the Clippers can contend for the title once again. They added more depth to their roster with the John Wall signing, and if they can get and stay healthy, they'll surely be tough to beat.
Here's to hoping that Leonard doesn't suffer any setback in his recovery. After all, the Battle of LA is definitely more exciting when he's playing.
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