The San Antonio Spurs may finally get their best player back on the court, but it may be just be a few days later than they originally thought.
Kawhi Leonard, who has not played since Game 1 of the Western Conference finals due to a right quadriceps injury, could make his season debut on Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks according to ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Michael C. Wright.
San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard is now targeting his return on Tuesday against Dallas, league sources tell @mikecwright and me. He has yet to play this season with a quad injury.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 8, 2017
Kawhi Leonard is out Friday against Boston, but he's getting in some work during shootaround. How he feels after this workout, and the team's evaluation of him will decide whether the forward debuts Saturday in Phoenix. https://t.co/lxgmyy4a5J pic.twitter.com/9nQTxUWIyq
— Michael C. Wright (@mikecwright) December 8, 2017
That return date is a shift from reports Thursday, which had Leonard potentially coming back tomorrow night against the Phoenix Suns. Leonard has been participating in 5-on-5 play in practice, but the Spurs have yet to commit on a firm return date for their star forward. Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express News has more:
The wait for Kawhi Leonard’s return may finally be coming to an end. League sources tell the Express-News Leonard could make his season debut for the Spurs on Saturday against the Phoenix Suns barring any setbacks.
According to sources, Leonard participate in a final workout session Thursday. The team will re-evaluate Leonard on Friday. If all goes well, and Leonard feels OK, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year will travel with the team to Phoenix after Friday’s game against Boston to play in the second game of a back-to-back.
Leonard was a Kia Most Valuable Player finalist last season after averaging 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game while leading the Spurs to a 61-21 regular season record.
