The nature of Kawhi Leonard’s knee injury makes it difficult to put a definitive return timeline on him at this point, TSN’s Josh Lewenberg reports.
Lewenberg adds that Leonard is expected to be re-evaluated next Wednesday and a return to action will depend on his his swollen left knee responds to rest and treatment.
On Thursday, NBA on Prime’s Chris Haynes reported Leonard was expected to be sidelined for at least three or four weeks. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday Leonard will miss “a period of weeks” while the Raptors said he would be evaluated in one week, but showed no acute injury in medical imaging.
Lewenberg notes that while Leonard could be out three to four weeks, or possibly more, the team‘s hope is that it will be less.
Head coach Darko Rajakovic reiterated to reporters on Thursday that there is still no firm timetable for Leonard. He is getting treatment outside of Toronto and is responding well so far.
Leonard appeared in two regular-season games before being a late scratch prior to Toronto’s game in Minnesota Sunday evening. He will be sidelined through this weekend for the Raptors’ trip to Los Angeles, meaning the ex-Clipper will not play against his former team on Monday at Intuit Dome.
Leonard had 23 points in his Raptors re-debut last week in the season-opener against the Chicago Bulls but struggled two nights later against the Washington Wizards, scoring 16 points on 5-of-17 shooting.
He is averaging 19.5 points and 7.5 rebounds on 32.4 per cent shooting from the field in two games this season after averaging a career-best 27.9 points a season ago in 65 games with the Clippers.
The Raptors currently sit 3-1 after defeating the Orlando Magic in lopsided fashion Wednesday night. They will be back in action on Friday at home against the Magic in a back-to-back.