Kawhi Leonard is on track to make his preseason debut for the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night against the New York Knicks, after being cleared to play and taking part in Monday’s practice.
Leonard has been a limited presence through much of camp, and he still hasn’t appeared in a preseason game for Toronto. His workload this offseason has been carefully managed as he works his way back up, while the NBA’s pending investigation and trade discussions have hovered in the background. He also sat out Saturday’s preseason matchup with his former team, the LA Clippers, in Vancouver as his practice time continued to increase.
“He went through the whole practice with the team today, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said back on Friday's before the team's preseason game against the Clippers. “He's continuing to ramp up in preparing for the season. He's feeling well, he's where he needs to be at this point.”
Toronto’s training camp and preseason have gone well, and Leonard’s return to game action would be the next step in that build-up. Last season, in his 14th year in the NBA, Leonard put together career-best numbers across the board, averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game in his age-34 season while shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from deep.
The Clippers later agreed to send Leonard to Toronto in a deal for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and a couple of future draft picks. Ingram is currently recovering from offseason surgery on his right heel to address a heel spur and partially torn Achilles tendon.
The Raptors have built a deep group around Leonard, with Scottie Barnes leading the way and support from RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl, Collin Murray-Boyles, Jamal Shead and Ja'Kobe Walter.
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