Not easy for the Clippers this season… Between repeated injuries and elimination in the first round of the Playoffs, the page for 2023 has already been turned for Tyronn Lue’s men. Now, we must manage to see out to sea, where hope allows the wildest dreams, namely to be in good health. And this horizon depends a lot on Kawhi Leonard.
Remember the hype at the start of the season in California. A lot of people saw the Clippers finishing atop the Western Conference. Despite a Kawhi Leonard still injured last October, the coaching staff de Tyronn Lue took his time with his “little” protege, who only returned at the beginning of December. But inevitably, it’s not great for triggering a dynamic. Result, unconvincing record of 13-11 at the start of the season. On top of that, Paul George gets injured just before the Playoffs, just to push the bad luck slider to the max… Result? A filthy elimination against the Suns in the first round… It must be said that after only 2 games, Kawhi Leonard was – again – injured, in the meniscus of his right knee. The Clippers therefore found themselves, quite simply, powerless against an attack from Phoenix that was far too powerful. What definitely draw a line under this season for the Clippers, while treating the sores of their superstar:
Kawhi Leonard underwent a cleanup on his torn meniscus and it will be an eight-week recovery according to Lawrence Frank. Frank said Kawhi is expected to be a full go for training camp in October.
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) June 23, 2023
Operation passed on June 6 to treat the meniscus of the right knee, enough to quietly let The Claw recover for at least 6 weeks on the beaches of Cancun. Normally, with the preparation time he will have left this summer, Kawhi should arrive ready to attack the 2023-2024 season from the training camp! But hey… “normally” and “Kawhi Leonard”, you realize very quickly that it doesn’t rhyme: in short, don’t declare victory too quickly. If the Clipps locker room can be reassured by this news, the front officehe still has a lot of work to do…
Indeed, and beyond the questions we may have about the health of Kawhi Leonard (52 games this season) and Paul George (56 games this year, 31 last year), Lawrence Frank, the president of the Clippers, assures that he wants to continue to bet on his duo of superstars as the foundations of the project, according to Ohm Youngmisuk ofESPN. But that does not prevent being worried to ensure depth in the rotation, in the event of a new absence of one of the two accomplices. Los Angeles recently got aggressive in coming close to stealing Malcom Brogdon from the Celtics, but the trade unfortunately didn’t materialize. It’s a safe bet that the Clippers will be watching for this kind of good move, while trying not to increase the debt. Russell Westbrook is nice as a re-signing, but not sure if it’s enough to scare the Nuggets for example…
What a bad luck all the same for these Clippers… The injuries of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George still delay the war of a year for the Californians. Let’s hope that Kawhi does what is necessary to get back on her two knees in September and we can only wish them to be on their two feet for 2024. Otherwise it’s not funny, we can’t winnow them.
Source texte : ESPN
2023-06-23 14:43:00
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