A clean MRI should have been the good news. Instead, Toronto is left waiting on a star whose left knee is swollen, whose location is “outside Toronto” and whose return date no one on the team will put on paper.
Head coach Darko Rajakovic told reporters there is still no firm timetable for Leonard, who is getting treatment outside of Toronto and responding well so far, according to TSN. Imaging on the knee showed no acute structural damage, but the swelling has not yet eased on the hoped-for timeline.
Leonard was ruled out roughly an hour before Sunday’s 117-94 defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves after flagging inflammation during warm-ups. The Raptors announced the next day that he would undergo treatment and rehabilitation and be re-evaluated in a week.
Rajakovic looks for silver lining
Rajakovic framed the absence as a chance to retool, not a crisis.
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“When Kawhi is not playing, obviously, that’s missing a very important piece, but that opens up a lot of opportunities for other guys,” he said to reporters, as quoted by TSN.
Leonard himself posted a short message to fans after the diagnosis.
“I came back to compete with this team and I’m focused on getting back to 100. Toronto, I’ve appreciated the love since I’ve been back. Returning soon,” he wrote.
Weeks, not days
The team’s one-week re-evaluation window is the most optimistic scenario in play. Reporting around the league has pointed to a longer stretch.
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ESPN’s Shams Charania has reported Leonard is expected to miss a period of weeks, and NBA on Prime’s Chris Haynes went further, telling his podcast that the forward is likely out for at least three to four weeks because of the swelling.
“I think it’s a little bit longer than what people were expecting, were hoping,” Haynes said, according to Heavy.com.
Sportsnet’s Michael Grange has suggested the Raptors’ next home game, on Monday, 9 November against the Memphis Grizzlies, is the earliest plausible return once the road trip in front of them is factored in.
A $115 million bet already under a cloud
The uncertainty lands on a contract Toronto only just signed. Leonard rejoined the Raptors in a late-summer trade from the Los Angeles Clippers and put his name to a two-year, $115 million extension. The deal itself was delayed for weeks while the NBA looked into questions of salary cap circumvention around his previous arrangement in Los Angeles.
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He played only two regular-season games before the warm-up scratch, averaging 19.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. His debut produced 23 points against Chicago; his second outing, a rough 5-of-17 night against Washington for 16 points.
The Raptors sit at 3-1 and face a stretch of road games before the Memphis date Grange has flagged. The next concrete marker is the end of the one-week window the team set after Sunday’s scratch.
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