Clippers may have Kawhi Leonard come off bench to start season

The Clippers are contemplating starting the season with Kawhi Leonard as a reserve to manage his minutes, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Leonard, who missed all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL, started both of his preseason appearances for the Clippers, averaging 16.5 minutes per contest. The five-time All-Star, two-time Defensive Player of the Year and two-time Finals MVP sustained the injury in Game 4 of L.A.’s second-round playoff series against Utah in June 2021.

The 31-year-old has a somewhat notorious reputation for missing games due to “load management,” playing no more than 60 regular-season games since 2017-18. However, this situation is a bit different because a torn ACL is a very serious injury, and sometimes it takes a while for players to ramp up his conditioning and get back to game speed after missing so much time.

Still, it’s unclear what the advantage would be to bringing Leonard off the bench as opposed to starting. He’s started every game he’s played since Nov. 11, 2013, so it’s been nearly nearly nine years since he was last used as a reserve.

With Leonard and fellow star Paul George back and healthy, the Clippers are looking to improve upon last season’s 42-40 campaign that saw them miss out on the playoffs after losing both games in the play-in tournament. The Clippers face the Lakers Thursday night at 9 p.m. CT on TNT for their regular-season opener.