[Haynes] Toronto Raptors star Kawhi Leonard (knee) is expected to be sidelined for at least 3-4 weeks, sources tell me.
It was inevitable.
Kawhi Thanos Leonard
Kawhi ‘Mr. Glass’ Leonard
Theranos
Kawhi Theranos Leonard
I said this when there were threads talking about getting him during all the shady clippers shit, and it was BIZARRE the way people were riding SO HARD for him coming to Toronto and being worth the cost no matter how injured he was.
To the point that I’m convinced there was astroturfed fan sentiment online at that time to help secure the trade and most favorable terms.
You really do have to wonder about the possibility of astroturfed sentiment. There’s always been something off about raptors online discourse.
I had multiple raptors fans tell me I was an idiot for saying this was too risky to give up unprotected picks 8 years out and they were insistent that the team knew how to manage Kawhis injuries.
They always brushed off that he was 27 the last time he was there and 35 now.
I mean no shit its risky?
But that risk taking literally got us our first and only chip.
So just like last time, we’ll get to the playoffs without him, and if we’re lucky he’ll be healthy for 16 games.
You gave up one future asset the first time for the season directly after. A player for player risk trade is worth it for a 27 year old top 5 player. Giving up 2030s unprotected draft picks for a 35 year old who hasn’t been able to make it through the 2nd round since you had him is the issue.
Maybe you will be the Raptors fan that acknowledges the difference between a 27 year old and a 35 year old?
I mean what do you want us to do?
Sit with a raptors core that’s just stuck in 2nd round exit land for the next 10 years? Not good enough to win, not bad enough to get good picks
Sorry we can’t just have LeBron sign to us because he likes LA
I had raps fans tell me Clippers medical was incompetent.
That’s fair but what you’re saying has nothing to do with managing him I mean this doesn’t change their approach at all lol
Like yes again everything you’re saying is accurate there’s nothing to dispute that but you’re acting like (regardless of his age) he suddenly did not have injuries before? I mean I don’t even know exactly his knee issue is but I’m pretty sure it’s a chronic type of issue anyway so in some capacity he’s always going to have to be load managed that way.
I literally think the only difference to start the season is we didn’t expect him to need this so early. Yeah the picks were a risk given he’s older with the same injury history he had before when he was there but at the same time and he’s still worth I would argue at least one of those picks because even dating back to last season he was still one of the top elite players in the league.
I don’t think his contract will age that gracefully but the big thing is that they can just have him healthy enough for the playoffs that’s really all that matters for them
No, I’m acting like the human body becomes more difficult to manage through injury as it ages and in professional sports the difference between a 27 year old and a 35 year old is significant.
It went fine last time he did this with us.
My theory is that he played thru shit like this to earn a contract extension
There was a clip of him on this sub from a baseline camera that caught him dribbling on a fast break against the Pelicans in [literal] slow motion.
You can literally see him grimacing as he runs up the court and how much pain he’s in based on his facial expression. He 1000% was playing hurt last season to try and get to the 65-game threshold to qualify for awards and “earn” that max contract extension.
Can you link it? I don’t remember seeing that, but it adds up.
Couldn’t find it on here, but found a clip of it on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DWDHzbdEfI4/?img_index=2&xtok=bTM0cXd3NzM0b3p1
The first 2 games, the biggest thing I noticed was that he looked a bit slow, sluggish, or rusty. It’s starting to make a lot more sense now.
i’m goin through this wit AD right
That’s a solid theory. He hurt his left knee in January, he played through it, and he didn’t look right by the end of the season.
Kawhi after missing 3 games in January (guessing this is when he hurt his knee): 28/6/4 on 51/37/85 splits
Kawhi post ASB: 28/6/4 on 53/39/86 splits
Kawhi after missing a couple games in mid-March: 26/6/4 on 51/40/86 splits
Kawhi in April: 26/6/4 on 53/47/76 splits
Idk about you but I’m not seeing a drop off due to a knee injury lol
That’s why you can’t just rely on counting stats and shooting splits. By the end of the season, his normally automatic middy wasn’t automatic, he was getting even less lift than he was previous, his jumpers were short, and his movement was more limited. And it was especially evident against team that had defenders with length. He just couldn’t physically assert himself like he normally could.
You’re full of shit. He was good the whole way though, even when the lack of talent made everything so much tougher on the offensive end.
The history of injuries is there but let’s not make up shit just for the sake of it.
That’s some serious cope on your part.
Go figure
Perfect time for GTA
Imagine him just at his crib playing GTA 6 all day while the team needs him 🤣
Great month to take some time off gaming wise
WoW Forever, Zelda remake, gta 6
All the injuries suck but this one is less surprising I guess
Everyone expected Kawhi and Embiid to be sidelined by the 2nd week, but Philly still going strong
If Philly wins it all because they’re the healthiest team it’ll be fuckin’ nuts.
Yea that’s why they would win.
Bron sharing his secret stuff with the team
They line up with gta 6 so I’m not surprised at all 😂
Ive been saying Kawhi is only healthy when he needs a contract or an extension.
Every year in between he has missed time. Its not a coincidence.
It’s not even a meme he legit is like clockwork. Once you pay him he goes from playing 65 games to 40.
Dude is crooked as it can be, in many regards
I’m pretty sure he’s always missing time at this point. Did he miss a bunch last year?
He played enough to get to 65 games last year.
He doesnt care about that this year because hes already been paid.
Its been rinse and repeat since 2017
what the hell was he on last year then? lol
He had to play to make sure he got the extension he wanted.
In the larger context, When we look back on his entire resume it will be hilarious that he put up some generational career numbers on a random #9 seed that missed the playoffs.
Duct taped together with HGH and stem cells.
Painkillers, most likely.
Contract year
The knee that’s always given him problems and has had to load manage is the right.
This is a new injury in his left knee that he suffered last January and played through to the end of the season.
So he played through it for an extension and now is back stealing money. Only a matter of time before the report that he’s getting surgery 😂😂😂😂
HOF bag getter
Never fails
Oh yeah that bum…I mean bum knee right
His paychecks here while injured
This time…
this time… we kill your team in the playoffs again just like 2019
Oh no
Anyway
I honestly have no idea what Toronto was thinking trading for him and then extending him, lol.
Playoffs
Raises our ceiling, and the extension isn’t for long anyway. We didn’t get Kawhi to win games in the regular season anyway
I couldn’t care less that he misses 3-4 weeks in November, our team is deep enough to continue winning games without him for now. What will be important is what happens near the end of the season
Damn you sound just like I did, coping for all those years 🤣🤣🤣🤣
We got a ring out of the guy, something your team couldn’t do despite all the tampering and cap circumvention
Nah it’s just way too early to care. You’ll learn about this sort of thing as you get older
If they gave up less then it would make more sense as a longshot gamble. Two 1st round picks, Two 2nd round picks, Gradey and Ingram for a 35 year old and injured Kawhi on a contract paying him ~$60mil a year is objectively dumb as fuck.
It’s 2 frps and a contract dump for Kawhi. Gradey and 2 seconds is worthless.
Paying him is also pretty much meaningless. It’s a relatively short contract, and we can’t sign anybody else of relevance anyway
You mean Brandon Ingram who has a partially torn achilles and is out indefinitely, and Gradey Dick who played himself out of the Raptors’ rotation last season?
I don’t think this is a surprise. Just betting on he is healthy enough for the playoffs.
they were thinking about 2019
Embid thinks about 2019 every night before hefalls asleep to nightmares of the Raptors torching his bum ass.
Jeez pal take a walk or something
you are a genuine oddball for responding like this and only got upvoted because “embiid bad”
Well dumping BI and Dick was worthwhile
Emotional money. And I suspect the Board Man saw that from a mile away and got paid. Gotta hand it to him…he’s a gangster.
Desperation and nostalgia
Toronto thinks they have Kawhi’s loyalty.
Kawhi missed 3 weeks in November last season too and then played the rest of the year. This is business as usual for him.
What’s Ingram doing now? That’s why.
I see why there are big ol women in San Antonio now.
Bro that’s like two meals
Make sure you get them fixins
Hot link, grits, southern biscuit w/strawberry jam, and some OJ
Classic
Haha nice sweet awesome, surely he’ll just heal up and be healthy the rest of the season, right guys??….guys?
Goal is that th team ends up top 4 in the east with Kawhi playing maybe 50% of games and he’s healthy in the playoffs.
I think thats perfectly reasonable
i dont wanna be a debbie downer so i will say yes if the raptors finish top 4 with Kawhi playing half the season and being healthy for the playoffs that would be great.
Imo that should have been the expectation before the season even began.
It might not turn out that way, but Kawhi also had a relatively healthy season just last year. He’s injury prone, but given that recent history, I’d say 50% of games or more even is reasonable.
We’ll see. I love seeing the garbage eating bums in this thread sopping it up tho
Shitty, but I’d rather him be out now when the schedule is soft than later on. If it was bound to happen then it is what it is
Yeah… he totally will be healthy later as well.
You can always count on him in May.
No, I think that was actually supposed to be, you May count on him. Also, you May not.
You forgot the /s
It has tended to be the case that he misses more time early in the season and is healthier later on. Not saying this will remain true, but it’s not unlikely.
This is how injuries in the nba go in general. Guys don’t have the conditioning to play at the modern day pace for 82 when coming into the season and a lot of them get injured early. It’s especially bad for older players and players who aren’t able to ramp up through all of training camp e.g Kawhi. They should have gone slower with him to start the season and ramped him up starting at like 18 min a night over the course of the first 20 or so games.
He hasn’t been healthy through a full playoff round in years
Definitely not unlikely
I don’t get this thought of it’s better to be injured now than later. That’s not how injuries work buddy.
He won us a chip. He deserves some benefit of the doubt
His knees were seven years younger
Only because 2 GSW starters had season ending injuries
Lmao let’s be serious here. Klays “season ending injury” was at the end of the 3rd quarter of Game 6.
Everyone said that in 2019 as well
A yeah that 1 yr he was healthy out of 12 yrs or something.
hmm what is more likely to happen, he repeat that 1 time or the 11 other time? Oh wait he’s also much much older now too.
I guess we’ll see
We don’t really need him “healthy” per se
Well bad news, a constantly injured player whose getting older, getting injured 4 games into the season will likely be injured again
Yeah but riding him all season long guarantees injured in the playoffs. He is off for swelling, the time off is just preventative
“riding him” aka playing games like a professional basketball player should
Yeah, saving him for the playoffs means you can watch him hobble through the first round before getting to a second round injury.
Wouldn’t riding him for a grueling playoff schedule of the most intense basketball every other night guarantee injury?
He was clearly hurt in 2019 during the playoffs. Didn’t stop him
Likely need some sweeps to give him time to rest. The good thing about playoffs, no back to backs.
This feels like a cope I’m sorry 😭
I don’t think this is one of those “rest and come back stronger” cases.
I agree, he should retire
Supposedly Kawhi was contemplating retirement during the year he took off from the Spurs. It’s a miracle that his knees kept going this long honestly.
First ballot HOF but still a ‘what if’ career
Yeah if there’s one thing Kawhi is known for it’s his availability in the playoffs
Thing is, he will be hurt now and later. His body is literally just not capable of handling NBA Games consistently anymore, which is sad because he’s so fun to watch and so good but his knees are beyond cooked
He was healthy last season. None of the fans know about the true extend of his current situation.
We always say ad is injury prone but does he have the most random injuries and something you would expect. At somepoint he is just unlucky.
I have been constantly yelled at by Raps fans for having the nerve to be able to look back ten years at his career and seeing the obvious pattern that this fits.
The dude is known for doing three things.
Playing really well, consistently, in a contract year.
Constantly sitting out in non-contract years, due to a mysterious knee injury that doesn’t show up on medical imaging.
Taking money under the table.
The Raps ignored the ramifications of 3., to trade multiple FRPs for a guy who exhibited 1., and is now exhibiting 2. He will continue to be 2., until such time that 1. happens. So I guess if you’re the Raps, you’ve got 2 years after this to put together a roster where you’ll contend with the expected good year of Kawhi Leonard.
I dont think raptors fan really care. Traded away 2 players who wasnt able to play. The picks aren’t really worth much in today’s market. The fans wanted kawhi back regardless of how far the team goes.
Kawhi is the most loved raptors. Lowry lasted longer but no single player received as much love as kawhi in 2019. Kawhi could be injuried and I’m not sure it matters to the fan as long as he can play some games and retire therem
Until he wasn’t, when it mattered with the Clips trying to make the playoffs.
They have 82 games to make the playoff, all games is equally as important. He played 65 games that is healthy
What if he also misses time later on?
I love this coping logic NBA fans run with as if an injury early guarantees an injury-prone player won’t get injured again. “Better now than later.” lol that’s not how it works
I see the copium is already hitting.
They’ll learn.
The team is still better with kawhi. Brandon Ingram is out for the clippers as well lol
The copium is so good we won by 30 last night without him
7 years ago. Ya that’s coping
And we heard the exact same arguments in 2019. Kawhi wasn’t exactly fit as a fiddle back then either but once his injuries were managed properly, he was able to play the majority of the playoff run and got us a ring.
I’d sure rather take my chances with 75% Kawhi than 100% Devin Booker lmao
He already came back at the end of the season before and he still gets hobbled during the playoffs. Face it. He can’t make it through even just 2 straight rounds in the playoffs.
The guy is done. He can’t string together 5 low intensity games. His body just cannot handle standard NBA basketball.
Raps destroyed us last week, but Kawhi in that game looked old as hell. Felt like he couldn’t jump
Yeah his knees were likely bothering him. He also missed a lot of training camp and is way behind on learning our schemes though. He’ll be good.
I don’t expect clippers fans to be out here saying this, but he played 60+ games last year and hard carried a team that was pretty bad to a 9 seed after a terrible start.
We just saying shit
Played 68 games in 2024 and got hurt after two games in first round against Dallas. Don’t matter how many games he plays he breaks down come playoff time.
Okay. We will see. He does not pass the eye test at all to me.
People have been saying this for years yet last year he had his best season in a while. He ain’t done until he’s done.
Okay. We will see.
Sad to say you might be right. One of the biggest what if in nba history. He got us our chip tho.
Thats why I hated the trade
It was an incredible watch for a neutral fan. Can’t imagine how it felt as Raptors fan to see that run.
Edit: talking about his championship run
He strung together multiple 5 high intensity games last season.
Yeah there’s no guarantees that this will mean he’s healthy later.
Gotta love Raptors fans for injecting a bunch of copium
Brother….
All Im saying is just don’t be surprised if this extends and extends
lol yeah he’ll be totally healthy later
Y’all are cooked, bud
Oh hes totally going to be healthy by that time
Honestly I couldn’t care less. We knew what we were getting. It’s still worth it to potentially raise our ceiling
It’s both. It’s always both
The problem is, he’s probably gonna end up hampered at best during the playoffs too. This is why I’ve been saying that I don’t understand people treating Kawhi as a post season needle mover.
He can be that, but the probability is low.
Injuries aren’t a quota lol. One injury makes other injuries more probable, not less.
Yeah if he had to have his obligatory one and only injury for the season it is better to have it now.
Ya this next month is okay but we need him back for December
We’ll find out how badly we need him back as we play more. If we’re top of the conference without him, it shouldn’t matter too much.
Yak is a way bigger problem. That contract is atrocious
All to avoid a road trip game against the Clippers, as the tinfoil-hat wearers would have you believe. 3-4 weeks is overkill, no?
Well according to this sub, Joel would miss 4-6 weeks to avoid playing Jokic in Denver, so 3-4 is nothing.
Its like clockwork
loooooooool
Fork found in kitchen
Scheduled post
Never knew so many doctors frequented r/nba
Coping is a necessary stage of the grieving process, I understand
well the Piston’s would be the experts at cope, when was the last time you won a chip’ again?
What I’ve learned is thay people really don’t like kawhi!
all these hot takes when time will reveal all
Comments about a guy who can only stay active during a contract year…how are they fucking hot take?
do raptors fans think they’ll stack enough wins without kawhi? the east is pretty tough this year
Ya we were the 5 seed without him last year and we’ve had a lot of players improve. We’ll be fine
Ignoring that alot of teams like the 76ers, Wizards and Heat(not too sure about them though), added key players to their roster this offseason, and teams like the Pacers that had injured star players for the whole last season.
Breh wizards are trash
Don’t sleep on the wizards. They’re better than you think and certainly not trash
we certainly improved last year from literal worst lineups in nba history to trying to win with 2 all stars and a potential improvement from young guys
that 10 point loss we had vs yall woulda been by 45 a year ago
Brandon Ingram is not on the team this year….
That’s probably a good thing
Yes
Hope he starts a podcast
Check under the table didn’t clear
The ink has barely dried on that max contract extension.
Less than expected
Time to dust off the ole 2019 game plan of “play Kawhi just enough to get us into the playoffs and then hope he’s healthy enough to go on a run”