Kawhi Leonard’s 2017-18 season debut has yet to take place, and the San Antonio Spurs haven’t offered a definitive timetable for his return from a quad injury. But, on the bright side, it seems he will play sometime before hell freezes over.
As head coach Gregg Popovich said, per the San Antonio Express-News‘ Tom Orsborn:
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich offered an update of sorts on the status of injured All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard.
Asked if there is “light at the end of the tunnel” for the Spurs’ linchpin player, Popovich said after shootaround Tuesday morning, “Oh, sure. He’s gonna be back sooner rather than later.”
The coach then paused before adding, “Whatever nebulous (stuff that was). As soon as I said it, I thought, ‘What the hell does that mean?’ “
So, um, this is kind of encouraging. Or maybe not. Who the hell knows. This entire situation is weird.
That Leonard might return “sooner rather than later” is a semi-big deal. The Spurs need him. More specifically, their offense needs him. They’re pumping in 104.1 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com—the 17th-best mark in the league. They’re a bit better with LaMarcus Aldridge in the game, but running a lion’s share of your possessions through a big who relies on post-ups and tough fadeaways isn’t the most sustainable source of efficient offense.
Plus, if you’ll remember, the Spurs’ machine started to show signs of mortality when Leonard stepped off the floor last season. They went from scoring like the NBA’s second-best attack to grabbing buckets at a bottom-five rate with him on the pine. And that was with him feasting on a consistent diet of pull-ups and tough, head-down looks himself. He figured to make another leap this year, as a facilitator, not unlike 2013-14 Kevin Durant.
That jump will have to wait for now, until he takes the floor…whenever that is.
