Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard: No timeline for rehab; hasn’t ruled out playing this season

Two months after undergoing surgery on his right knee, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard said Monday that he has no time line for his recovery from surgery to repair a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament — while also indicating that he hasn’t ruled out a return this season.

When asked why he had chosen to re-sign with the Clippers in August on a four-year, $176-million contract, given the shorter-term options the free agent could have chosen, Leonard, speaking at the team’s season-opening media day, said that one factor was locking in the financial security in case “I wanted to be able to come back if I was able to this year.”

“I mean the best situation for me to me was to do it one and one and then opt out and sign a long-term, five-year deal, but there’s a lot of concerns that that brings up for you guys and your job and it creates storylines that I’m going to leave the team,” Leonard said during his first comments about his injury since it happened in June, during the fourth game of the Clippers’ second-round playoff series against Utah.

“One thing, I wanted to secure some money, and I wanted to be able to come back if I was able to this year. If I would have took the one and one, I probably would have not played just to be cautious and opted out and took a five-year.

“I’m here. I’m here to be a Clipper. I’m not going to another team unless something drastic happens, but I’m here for the long run.”

Orthopedic surgeons and an NBA athletic trainer in August said that the usual recovery time line for an injury such as Leonard’s can last nine months to one year, though athletes have also returned quicker. The playoffs are slated to begin in April, nine months after his surgery.

In the interim, Leonard said he plans to contribute by watching film with his teammates while sitting in on some coaches’ meetings to offer his thoughts.

“I mean, it’s very challenging,” Leonard said of his recovery, “since being injured and not really feeling like I was injured. That’s the challenge of it, just seeing how quickly I can get better and how much stronger I can get than what I was when I’m healthy. That’s where I pretty much turn my mindset to.”

Without Leonard, the Clippers beat Utah in the postseason’s second round by winning two games without their leading scorer. With Leonard still out, they took Phoenix to six games in the Western Conference finals, leaning on the scoring of fellow All-Star forward Paul George, who acknowledged that with Leonard out for an undetermined amount of time he wants to “kind of just do everything on the floor.”

“I think this group proved what we can accomplish being down Kawhi,” Clippers George said. “So that was just enough. That was enough going into this summer knowing what I need to bring, what I need to add, what I need to work on. I’m ready. I’m ready for the fight for this year.”

Coach Tyronn Lue said he expects Leonard will not travel with the team during early road trips to help expedite his recovery.

“We don’t want to force him or put any pressure on him,” Lue said. “We want to make sure he’s rehabbing, doing everything he can to get back as soon as possible, and if that’s next season, that’s next season.

“We don’t want to force him to come back too early. We want to make sure he’s 100% when he does come back.”