Kawhi Leonard played in only 60 games this season due to a team maintaince plan designed to preserve his health. He’s happy with how the Raptors have managed him in what could be his only season in Toronto.
“We did a great job just attacking the [injury] problem in the beginning during training camp,” Leonard said, as Ryan Wolstat of Toronto Sun tweets.“Laying out the schedule. I feel good. I wasn’t as healthy as I wanted to be this year, but, I couldn’t say I would have this type of season in the beginning of the year the way things started, the way I felt.
“I’m happy. We’re second place. We’ve got an opportunity to get where we want to get to.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Marcus Smart has suffered a torn left oblique and could miss the first two rounds of the playoffs, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports. The Celtics host the Pacers in the Eastern Conference’s 4-5 matchup.
- Sixers GM Elton Brand said he’s “optimistic” that Joel Embiid will be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs, as NBC Sports’ Serena Winters relays (Twitter link). Including Philadelphia’s finale vs. the Bulls, Embiid has missed five of the team’s last seven games as a result of knee soreness and the staff’s management plan and it’s possible that the big man could sit in the
- Jonathan Gibson‘s deal with the Celtics is only for the remainder of the season, per Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Gibson signed with Boston on Tuesday and didn’t see action in the team’s final game of the year.
If Kawhi is so content to playing 75% of his games, then why would anyone wanna pay him 100% of what he’s worth?
OMGLOLFF!! trade a franchise player + 1st rd pick = one year rental
We will see what he’s worth in the next two months, won’t we?
title or bust – anything short will be viewed as a colossal failure.
Coming back from a quad injury is not easy. Not controlling load and volume is why Derrick Rose’s career almost ended. The human body just cannot go from 0-60 like that, after being inactive for a year.