Another Kawhi Leonard absence showcases huge Clippers front office flaw

The L.A. Clippers are starting a playoff run without their biggest star in Kawhi Leonard. As noted byUnderdog NBA this is a feeling that L.A. knows all too well as Kawhi Leonard has missed 12 of the Clippers' last 14 playoff games. Overall, the franchise has only had him and Paul George both available for 11 of their last 25 playoff games since 2021.

While Leonard had missed plenty of games up to that point, the majority of his injuries troubles began during the 2016-17 Western Conference finals when Zaza Pachulia re-injured Leonard's sprained ankle which caused the star to miss the majority of the following season's campaign and rehab assignments made him want to request a trade from the Spurs.

From there, the All-NBA veteran was traded to Toronto where he played a somewhat limited regular season and then unleashed during the playoffs to lead the Raptors to the title. Leonard then left Toronto for L.A. While he has had great seasons with Clippers, Leonard has suffered numerous lower body injuries.

This includes a partially-torn ACL during the Clippers 2021 playoff run which caused him to miss to the rest of their run and the season after. He has also missed another playoff run with a torn meniscus. With Leonard out for game one, it's fair to speculate whether the Clippers should expect to have Leonard play at some point in this series.

Is Kawhi Leonard likely to play at some point this series?

With how secretive the Clippers have been with their star's right knee, it's impossible to know when Leonard will be back. To be quite honest, it's hard to see a world where the star can come back for the Game 2 matchup with a quick turnaround of two days. Game 3's date of Friday is a more realistic possible return for Leonard.

Still, at the end of the day, it seems like anything is in play for Leonard regarding his availability for this series. Leonard will be a Clipper for the long term, but questions remain for this playoff run about his health.

Hopefully, Leonard can come back soon for the Clippers this postseason and avoid future aliments.