Kawhi Leonard’s Raptors preseason debut will have to wait.
The veteran forward sat out Toronto’s exhibition opener against the Miami Heat in Quebec City, and head coach Darko Rajakovic made it clear the absence was part of a cautious ramp-up plan rather than anything alarming. Toronto is easing Leonard back into action after a summer without live game reps, and the team appears ready to take the slow route with its newest star.
“I mean, we’ve got to have in mind the last time he played live against players was a (play-in tournament) game against Golden State last season,” Rajakovic said via Sportsnet insider Michael Grange. “He didn't play any live at all this whole summer, and obviously when it was time to ramp up and play, the trade still had not gone through.
“So we're being super cautious just to build him up the right way. I think the plan is to have him sit out; he's going to have a whole week working out.
Probably he's not going to play against the Clippers (in Vancouver next Saturday) as well. And hopefully at that point, we're going to start including him in games after that.”
That approach fits the pattern Leonard has carried through much of his career. Toronto isn’t just trying to get him on the floor for October basketball; it needs him healthy when the games matter most. The 35-year-old is still viewed as the kind of scorer who can change the shape of a season, but the Raptors are clearly prioritizing durability over urgency.
Last season, Leonard appeared in 65 games for the Clippers, the minimum needed to qualify for All-NBA honors and the contract bonuses that come with them. That number may represent a target for him again, though Toronto would take all 82 if that were somehow on the table. More realistically, the real benchmark is having him ready for the playoffs.
For now, the preseason schedule gives the Raptors some breathing room. They have four exhibition games left before their season opener on Oct. 21 against the Chicago Bulls, and the current signs point to Leonard missing at least one more, if not two. If Rajakovic’s timeline holds, the earliest realistic return could come on Oct. 13, when the defending champion New York Knicks visit Scotiabank Arena.
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Clippers Just Lost More Control In The Kawhi Leonard Saga
Kawhi Leonards path back to Toronto is becoming a bigger reminder of just how complicated his departure from the Clippers really was. The Raptors officially completed the trade only after the league took time to sort through the Clippers salary-cap situation, and the deal has already reopened interest in one of the more unusual star exits in recent NBA memory.
Leonard, for his part, has started talking more about the basketball side of the move, saying his focus is on learning the team and settling back into a veteran role. For Toronto, it is a familiar and welcome storyline, but it also leaves plenty of the larger Clippers questions hanging in the background, especially with the leagues investigation still shaping how this chapter gets remembered. [Read more 🡒]
Kawhis Raptors Return Creates One Big Question For Darkos Offense
Kawhi Leonards return gives Toronto a very different kind of offensive anchor, and Darko Rajakovic is already sorting through how that changes the Raptors flow. The head coach has pointed to Leonards offensive gravity as the obvious draw, the kind of presence that can bend defenses and open cleaner looks for everyone else, while still allowing the group to keep its pace and transition identity when he is not on the floor.
Rajakovic also made clear this is not an instant plug-and-play situation, even with Leonard back in familiar territory. He is still working his way into the roster and into the environment around him, and the early task for Toronto is figuring out how to blend a superstars shot-making with the rhythm the team has been building, all while keeping enough flexibility in the rotation to let the fit settle in naturally. [Read more 🡒]
Collin Murray-Boyles Could Decide How Far The Raptors Really Go
Collin Murray-Boyles has already given the Raptors a useful glimpse of why they were intrigued by him in the first place. As a rookie, he showed the kind of defensive versatility Toronto has long valued, while also flashing enough offensive promise to suggest there is more to come. The bigger question now is how quickly that two-way profile can grow into something the Raptors can count on when the games start to matter most.
This summer, the early signs around his development have been encouraging, and Darko Rajakovic has pointed to both Murray-Boyles work ethic and the importance of letting his game expand at a measured pace. Toronto does not need him to be finished today, but it does need progress in the right places if he is going to become the sort of contributor who changes the ceiling of the roster. For a team trying to climb in the East, his next step may end up telling the story of how far this group can really go. [Read more 🡒]