PLAYA VISTA – As the 2022-23 NBA season grows closer, one thing gets more and more clear: Kawhi Leonard is ready and eager for his return to the LA Clippers lineup. When exactly he'll make his return and how much he'll play, however, remains to be determined.

Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank met with members of the media Thursday morning, informing everyone that Leonard took a major step in his recovery since that last time he spoke in June.

“He is cleared [for five-on-five basketball],” Frank said of Kawhi Leonard. “For him, he'll say, look, ‘I want to do everything.'

“He feels great. 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.”

The five-on-five basketball benchmark, however, isn't as simple as Leonard playing and practicing regularly again.

“Kawhi's done a lot of controlled basketball for a long time. Though 5-on-5 is viewed to the layman as a benchmark, it's more complicated than that. Ultimately, he keeps trending towards being able to play in an NBA basketball game, and so he'll just continue to take those steps in camp.”

Leonard has been out since June 14, 2021, when he suffered a torn ACL in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz. There was some cautious optimism around a potential Kawhi Leonard return last season, but those proved to be unfeasible.

A full 14 months after undergoing ACL surgery, Kawhi Leonard is finally ramping up towards a return. The plan for Leonard, however, remains fluid, with much of the determinations being made on a day-to-day basis.

“I think when you're dealing with a major injury, you can't predict [how a guy comes back],” Frank added. “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. We're not going to get into predictions, what he will do or he won't do.”

In his last stint on the court, Leonard was playing at a level most of the league only imagines reaching. In 11 playoff appearances in 2021, Leonard averaged 30.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.1 steals per game on 67.9 true shooting percentage (league average in 2021 was 57.2)

Between the injury and his expected return date, Kawhi Leonard will spent a total of 14 months away from the NBA court. The Clippers weren't championship contenders without him, but the 14-month stretch wasn't a waste by any stretch. Instead, the team turned their focus to player development while continuing to try and improve the roster. And while most threw names of Clippers players in trade scenarios, the organization remained committed to seeing this core healthy.

“We really value continuity,” Lawrence Frank said. “The kind of the rotating rosters year-in and year-out, it's hard for guys to get a rhythm. Each player on the roster is here for a reason, and we're fortunate in that we feel we have the two best two-way players in the league, and we wanted to complement them and amplify their skill sets. So size, shooting, versatility, high basketball IQ, and just piece by piece.

“Once Kawhi got injured and we knew he was out for the year, internally our goal is we want the team to be better by the time he returns. So you could initially say, to your point, okay, we got Norm [Powell], RoCo (Robert Covington), John Wall. But then, also, the development of Terance [Mann], Luke [Kennard], Zu (Ivica Zubac). The emergence of Amir [Coffey] and Brandon [Boston] that we feel our roster is better.

“Now, does that guarantee us anything? No, nothing. But we do feel the group is better.”

In both photos and videos posted of the two-time Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard appears to have transformed his body quite a bit. The return isn't just a return from an ACL injury. It's getting his whole body ready for the fast and physical nature of the NBA.

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“You're not just rehabbing a knee. You're rehabbing the entire body. And Kawhi is one-of-one. Just his size, his strength, his speed. You want to make sure that he's ready and put in a great position because we want to take a long run here, and that's why, again, along those lines, we'll be cautious with the approach.”

The Clippers tip off their preseason slate on September 30th with a game against Maccabi Ra'anana, part of a four-game exhibition schedule. Leonard will more than likely play at some point in the preseason and be intently monitored throughout the first few weeks of the season.

As for the load management plan for Leonard this season, the Clippers plan to project a month's workload for Leonard while taking it day by day and week by week

After two injury-riddled seasons, the goal is clear. Stay healthy enough to compete when the games matter most.

“We want our guys to be able to be at their best when their best is needed, which is, you know, April, May, and June.”