Western Notes: Leonard, Hood, Bender, Bjelica

Kawhi Leonard‘s long-awaited season debut will likely take place on Tuesday. The Spurs All-Star forward is listed as probable for Tuesday’s road game against Dallas, ESPN’s Michael C. Wright relays. Leonard has endured a longer-than-expected recovery period from right quadriceps tendinopathy. He averaged a career-high 25.5 PPG last season and led his club to the Western Conference finals.

In other developments around the Western Conference:

• Jazz shooting guard Rodney Hood hopes to return to action Wednesday, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. Hood, averaging a career-best 17.7 PPG, has been sidelined seven games with a left ankle injury.
• Suns second-year power forward Dragan Bender will have to earn his way back into the regular rotation, as Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic reports. Bender has totaled just 12 points and 11 rebounds over the last seven games while shooting 20% from the field, as his playing time has diminished. “I don’t think competition is bad especially when you’re a young player and you’re not guaranteed minutes,” coach Jay Triano said of the lottery pick. “He has to play better. … If you want to say Dragan is not playing well enough to be on the court right now, that’s fine. I want it to be competition.”
• Timberwolves power forward Nemanja Bjelica has missed the last nine games with a foot injury and it’s still uncertain when he’ll return. Coach Tom Thibodeau provided an update on his status to Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Jerry Zgoda (Twitter link) and other media members.  “We don’t want to put a timetable on it,” Thibodeau said. “We thought it would be sooner, but when he’s healthy, he’s healthy. We don’t want to go back and forth with it. He has ramped it up conditioning-wise, so that’s a good sign.”