Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard has been upgraded to probable for his team's game against the New York Knicks on Saturday night, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
Leonard missed the Raptors' win over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday evening due to a sore left knee. Toronto has also been giving Leonard intermittent rest throughout the year.
On the season, Leonard is averaging a career-high 27.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.9 steals over 34.9 minutes per game while shooting 49.6 percent from the floor, 37.1 percent from three-point range and 86.2 percent from the free-throw line.
The Raptors acquired Leonard over the summer in a trade with the San Antonio Spurs, sending long-time wing DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs in exchange for the 2014 NBA Finals MVP.
Leonard, who is also a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, was originally selected by the Indiana Pacers in the first round (15th pick overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft.
However, the Pacers then traded him to the Spurs for point guard George Hill in what turned out to be one of the more lopsided trades in NBA history.
No disrespect to Hill, who did well for Indiana and was a fine player in his prime, but he is not Kawhi Leonard.
While Leonard had a quiet rookie campaign, averaging just 7.9 points per game, he demonstrated a surprising ability to shoot the ball well from the perimeter, making 37.9 percent of his triples during his first season.
He spent the first seven years of his career with the Spurs, winning a championship in 2014 and developing into a superstar, making All-Star teams in 2016 and 2017 before having a falling out with the organization during the 2017-18 campaign.
He was then traded to Toronto last offseason.
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