SEATTLE — Kawhi Leonard's return to the Los Angeles Clippers' lineup has many around the NBA world excited for the potential of the team. But Leonard pumped some of the brakes on the Clippers hype train following his first game back.

Leonard participated in his first set of five-on-five practices before playing in an NBA game Monday night vs. the Portland Trail Blazers. It was his first official action in over 15 months as he recovered from a torn right ACL.

Whether it was in pregame workouts or in the game, Leonard's play on Monday had fans jumping out of their seats. He only played 16 minutes, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals, but the fact that the two-time Finals MVP was back out there was enough.

“It was great,” Leonard said following the win. “Just being able to put all that hard work that I did throughout the, whatever, 14, 16 months, just able to put it to test and playing against NBA talent, it was good. Just being out there with the guys and talking, I missed it. It was a great experience for me.”

Despite scrimmaging and playing five-on-five throughout training camp, Leonard mentioned feeling heavy legs and fatigue in his first game action. Given how hard it is to replicate NBA game speed and pace, it's not at all surprising to hear.

“That's going to come. I'm going to be rusty. Legs definitely felt heavy, a lot of lactic acid in them. But as that time goes on, the rhythm will get back, the footwork, the spacing, the timing. Just knowing play calls, getting used to the crowd, getting used to T-Lue calling plays on the fly, my teammates yelling, the breathing, all that is going to come. I already know that, I know it’s a process and that is what I am looking forward to.”

The Clippers' final two preseason games will be on Sunday, Oct. 9, and Wednesday, Oct. 12. Kawhi Leonard will likely play in both, assuming he comes out of each practice session feeling good. It would be hard to imagine Leonard playing in back-to-backs at any point this season, and even he has admitted he's not going to play 35-38 minutes for a while.

With the depth of this Clippers team, Leonard doesn't need to extend himself anywhere near that amount of minutes on a night-to-night basis. He will, however, need time on the court with all of his teammates, both new and old, as they learn one another.

“We're striving to be great,” Leonard said. “We want to be one of the last teams standing and just being able to start that process has been amazing. You can’t skip steps. It’s a journey. Like I told them, we are entering a tunnel and it is going to be dark for a while, but at the end, it’s going to be light and joy. That is just my whole mindset of it. Trying to go out there and at practice or if it is a preseason game, put all our effort into it so we can get better each and every day.”

The NBA's annual GM survey was released by John Schuhmann on Tuesday, which had the Clippers as the favorite to win the Western Conference. The Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns sat in second and third place, respectively.

The Clippers will continue to be smart and play it safe with Kawhi Leonard as the season begins. A lot of players go through ups and downs in their first year back from a serious injury of that nature. Now, Leonard isn't like most players, but he has had his share of lower-body injuries over the years that give you pause. The ultimate goal, of course, is to make sure he and the rest of the guys are as close to 100 percent as possible by April, May, and hopefully June.

“We've got to be smart about the situation, about the process,” Tyronn Lue said. “We know he feels great, which is great news and great to hear. But we've got to listen to Kawhi's body, be able to listen to the medical staff and make sure we're doing the right thing for Kawhi.”