The Toronto Raptors will have to stay afloat without one of their big-name stars for at least the next few games.
Forward Kawhi Leonard is set to undergo treatment and a rehabilitation program to address swelling in his left knee and will be reevaluated in a week, the team announced Tuesday.
Leonard was a late scratch from the lineup on Sunday ahead of the Raptors’ road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and underwent testing on Monday. According to the team, imaging revealed no acute injury.
The Raptors know Leonard’s injury history all too well, with the two-time Finals MVP playing just 60 regular-season games when he led the franchise to its lone championship in 2019.
Leonard has played 60 or more games eight times through his first 14 seasons in the NBA — twice in his last four years — as he’s missed time due to a variety of lower-body injuries, including a torn ACL in his right knee that sidelined him for all of 2021-22.
Leonard’s health appeared to be back on track last season when he played 65 regular-season games with the Los Angeles Clippers and averaged a career-best 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals. He finished seventh in MVP voting, earned his seventh all-star nod and seventh all-NBA selection (second-team).
The former two-time defensive player of the year had played in both of the Raptors’ first two games this season before his unexpected absence against the Timberwolves.
Leonard averaged 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 3.5 steals in that span, while playing just 26 minutes as he continued to ramp up to game speed — referencing the drawn-out trade saga and NBA investigation that came before he landed back in Toronto as what disrupted his off-season routine heading into training camp.
The Raptors are 2-1 on the season, winning their first two games of the year against the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards, both of which came with Leonard in the lineup.