The Los Angeles Clippers are heading into a strange season after missing Paul George in free agency, but the LA franchise will have Kawhi Leonard back healthy from day 1 of the training camp.
As it was revealed by head coach Ty Lue, Leonard, who missed the 2024 Olympics due to injury-related issues, will be available for the Clippers’ training camp starting in October.
“I speak to him all the time,” Lue told ESPN. “He’ll be ready for [Clippers] training camp. He’s feeling good, and I know he’ll be ready for training camp.”
The two-time NBA Finals MVP Leonard has battled multiple knee injuries through the years, while he finished the previous season with another injury as he was sidelined with knee inflammation. Leonard was out for the last part of the regular season and almost all of the Clippers’ playoff run.
During the summer, the 2019 NBA champion was hoping to play for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics, but he was never looked right during the team’s training camp and did not follow the team. He was replaced by Boston Celtics’ guard Derrick White.
Ty Lue looks forward to having Harden and Leonard available in the training camp.
Another huge challenge for Ty Lue and his staff will be that of integrating James Harden into the team from the start of the season. With Paul George leaving the franchise, Harden became immediately the second-best-ranked player on the team’s roster behind Leonard.
“It will make a huge difference,” Lue admitted of having an entire camp with Harden.
“Having to learn [how to best use him] on the fly was tough… What he’s shown us is that we can run a pick-and-roll… scoring the basketball, making plays for each other, making it easy for everybody to play.”
As for the injury concerns and the fact that the team failed to remain healthy for a big portion of the season, Lue said that the Clippers’ organization made everything in its power to keep the players away from injuries.
“We never put our best team on the floor in the playoffs,” Lue said. “That’s when Kawhi’s at his best, PG’s at his best. That’s when I’m at my best. When you get to a seven-game series and you can pick teams apart offensively and defensively, we were never able to get to that point.
“These guys put the hard work in. We took different approaches to help guys stay healthy, and it just didn’t work. We tried everything.”
