The Clippers Season Is Off To A Hot Start With Kawhi Leonard Now Reportedly Out For An "Indefinite Period Of Time"
Jacob Kupferman. Getty Images.Well this certainly doesn't sound great! It feels like just yesterday I wrote this blog
and here we are less than a week away from the NBA season and now we have no idea as to when Kawhi might be ready to go. It certainly looked like things were trending this way when we learned that Kawhi still wasn't practicing and that his availability for Opening Night was in question, but this Shams bomb takes it up a few levels.
Sidelined for "an indefinite period of time"? I'm no doctor, but that doesn't sound great. If we're being honest, this whole Kawhi health saga makes no goddamn sense. Less then a month ago the swelling was apparently almost gone
and now we have no idea when Kawhi will actually play? Am I the only one who doesn't think any of this adds up?
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It sure seems like the Clippers were doing their best to try and downplay things as they get ready to open the season in their new arena, but really this all dates back to the Team USA drama. He was good to go, then the Clippers apparently asked he be shut down, then the Clippers said they didn't shut him down and were excited to see him play, then he had a mystery knee procedure over the summer, then his rehab and recovery was looking great, and now he's cooked. What a rollercoaster of shit if we're being honest.
For the Clippers, this is obviously a devastating blow. Already a team most thought would have a tough time finishing in the top 6, if we're subtracting Kawhi from the equation well then I'm not sure what they do. They were already forced to rely heavily upon an aging James Harden, the shooting on the roster is iffy and defensively this is clearly a huge hit as well. For all the excitement about the Intuit Dome, it's very Clippers-esq that something like this happens and pretty much kills their season before it even starts.
Remember, after losing Paul George in free agency they pretty much put all their chips in the Kawhi/Harden basket, and he's someone who has 2 more years at $50M per on his current deal which takes him through his age 35 season. No player option, no team option either. Two fully guaranteed years at $50M after this season's $49M. At this point it begs the question if they should just bite the bullet and try and flip Kawhi? What good is he doing on your books taking up that much cap space and not playing as he gets older and older. I have no idea what his market even would be right now, but I think we're now at the point where you have to at least explore it.
The idea of bringing Kawhi/PG13/Harden together wasn't a bad one. When you have the opportunity to add Kawhi/George when they did you take it, even if it has to sting knowing what SGA turned into. But it's also not surprising that the whole experiment has been killed due to injury. It sucks for sure, but it's not as if this is some insane outcome that nobody could have seen coming.
It sucks not just for Clippers fans but for basketball fans everywhere given the fact that a healthy Kawhi is a monster and very fun to watch
I just think it's time we accept that we're never going to get that guy again for a prolonged period of time. It sucks, but that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes.