Kawhi Leonard plans to play in season opener – Basketball Insiders

The Los Angeles Clippers will enter the new season as one of the biggest question marks in the league. Not only did they lose Paul George this offseason, but Kawhi Leonard’s health is once again in question. However, Leonard has been working vigorously on rehabbing his knee and still plans to be in the lineup for the season opener. Leonard played in 68 games last year, the most the six-time All-Star has played since his penultimate year in San Antonio. He is motivated to take on a heavy load for Los Angeles this season and his recovery process will play a big role in that.

Kawhi Leonard plans to play in the season opener for the Los Angeles Clippers

Kawhi Leonard’s comments on his recovery process

Leonard himself had some interesting comments when asked about his surgically repaired right knee.

‘We’ll figure it out. I’m glad I’m feeling good and it feels a lot better than it was.”

“We’re taking it day by day,” Leonard said. “Everything went great this past month, but because we were very cautious for past reasons, we were unable to complete some of the play-offs, so we are making sure we stay healthy for those important moments.

“I’m trying to hold on to it and figure it out. We’ll be here for a long time if I start describing things (about the injury and treatment), but I’d just learn how it happened and how we can keep it contained and make sure we don’t fall into that time frame of (missing time in) those big moments (postseason) and just making sure I’m healthy.

“There are certain things we can do or try to do to make sure I stick with it,” he said. “So we’ll see what happens.”

Leonard is coming off a year in which he averaged a career-best three-point shooting percentage of 41.7 percent, along with 23.7 points per game. Additionally, he totaled 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. All in all, his impact will be crucial for the new season.

The Clippers’ title chances are coming this year

According to FanDuel, the Los Angeles Clippers have +10,000 odds to win the NBA Finals. They currently have odds of +1,000 for the division. They will be the underdogs for the first time since Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joined forces a few years ago. We’ve already seen what Kawhi Leonard does when he’s the only alpha on a team. The question is: can he repeat this feat again?