NBA news: Kawhi Leonard hasn’t played basketball since June 14, 2021, when he tore his ACL in his right knee.
The Los Angeles Clippers haven’t had nearly as much success without him. They have already lost more games than they did in the 2020-21 season.
This isn’t surprising, given that their other All-Star, Paul George, has only appeared in 26 of the team’s probable 54 games this season.
Returning to the Western Conference Finals for a club without its stars may appear out of reach. At the moment, George is expected to return later this season.
Even with a record of 27-27, a 13-15 record is better than most would have imagined for a squad missing its top two players. It demonstrates the additional effort that coach Tyronn Lue has garnered from his team during an otherwise difficult year.
While Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports reported last month that Leonard was ahead of schedule in his recovery. Healing from a catastrophic injury like a torn ACL does not allow for shortcuts. Leonard isn’t going to show up in half the time that other people do.
NBA news: Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss the 2021-22 season
Since Leonard’s injury happened so late in the season, nobody expected the two-time NBA champion to rush his comeback simply to play a few games in the final months of the regular season. Especially if the Clippers don’t have much of a chance.
Nonetheless, they’re doing better than predicted, presently holding the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. They should be able to secure a playoff berth if George returns. It may be a different situation if the Clippers make the playoffs, but that’s still a few months away.
George’s predicament is unknown. The All-Star forward’s right elbow has a torn UCL. He’ll most likely miss the rest of the season if he gets surgery. He has avoided surgery thus far. As a result, he might return, but there’s no way of knowing how long he’ll be gone.
If Leonard is going to be out this season anyhow, it could be in the team’s best interest to keep George on the bench as well. They simply don’t have the championship equity to risk more harm to George without Kawhi. If the Clippers stay healthy next season, they should be right back in the mix. For the time being, though, their title chances have taken significant damage.
Unfortunately, it does not appear like they will be able to recover to full vigor very soon. After the Clippers’ thrilling victory over the Lakers on Thursday, coach Ty Lue revealed
Even if they were forced to play in the play-in round, the Clippers would be one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA if they could get healthy in time for the playoffs.
