Los Angeles Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank told reporters on Thursday that Paul George and Kawhi Leonard will be at 100 percent entering the new season.
Frank said Leonard’s first 5-on-5 participation will take place in camp, which starts next Tuesday in Las Vegas, while he noted Paul George’s right elbow is fully healed after he suffered a torn UCL last season.
That injury cost George around three months of the season, and the 32-year-old played in just 31 games total, averaging 24.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists. Leonard missed the past season due to a torn ACL.
But Leonard, like George, is expected to be healthy for the start of the 2022-23 campaign. However, the Clippers will still be cautious in their approach, at least at the start of the season.
“He feels great,” Frank told reporters for Leonard. “His plan is, look, he wants to participate in everything. And I think organizationally, we’re going to be cautious. So it will be a step-by-step approach.”
When George and Leonard first paired up ahead of the 2019-20 season, the belief was that the Clippers were one of the title favorites. Now, they’re coming into a team that is considered one of the deepest in the league under coach Ty Lue.
