Toronto Raptors star Kawhi Leonard is expected to be sidelined for at least three to four weeks with swelling in his left knee, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported Thursday on NBA TV, citing sources.
That is a longer absence than many expected. On Tuesday, the Raptors said in a statement that imaging showed no acute injury in the knee, and that Leonard would go through treatment and a rehab program before being re-evaluated in one week. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on X the same day that Toronto expected to be without the forward for “a period of weeks.”
According to Haynes, the team plans to wait for the inflammation to calm down, then decide on next steps at the end of that three-to-four-week window.
The Raptors have not confirmed that timeline. Head coach Darko Rajakovic told reporters Thursday that there is still no firm timetable, according to TSN. He said Leonard is getting treatment outside of Toronto and is responding well so far.
TSN’s Josh Lewenberg reported that Leonard is set to be re-evaluated next Wednesday, and that the team hopes the absence will be shorter than three to four weeks, though it could also run longer. A knee that is swollen but not structurally damaged has no set recovery clock, which makes his return hard to predict.
The 35-year-old was traded back to Toronto, where he won the 2019 NBA championship, this offseason. He played in just two regular-season games before he was a late scratch for Sunday’s game at Minnesota. Ja’Kobe Walter moved into the starting lineup in his place.
Leonard will miss the Raptors’ trip to Los Angeles this weekend, TSN reported, meaning he will not face his former team, the Clippers, on Monday at Intuit Dome.
Leonard has dealt with knee problems throughout his career, though most of them involved his right knee, Yahoo Sports noted.
Aztimez will update this story after the Raptors’ re-evaluation next week.
Sources: Chris Haynes (NBA TV), the Toronto Raptors, ESPN’s Shams Charania (on X), TSN and Yahoo Sports.
Photo: “Sunset on the Hoop,” Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 public domain dedication. Generic image; not a photo of the player or team.
