Kawhi Leonard Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Leonard, Zubac Won’t Play In Game 6

June 30th, 2021 at 6:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and center Ivica Zubac will sit out Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals tonight, Marc Stein tweets.

Leonard hasn’t played in the series against the Suns due to a right knee injury that he suffered June 14 against Utah. Zubac is also sidelined by a right knee injury, officially described as an MCL sprain. The 24-year-old center played regularly during the first four games of the series, averaging 12.8 PPG and 11.0 RPG.

Marcus Morris is also dealing with a knee injury but he’ll play, according to coach Tyronn Lue, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets.

With Zubac sidelined in Game 5, Lue went with a smaller lineup and his team staved off elimination with a 116-102 win. Guards Terance Mann and Patrick Beverley were inserted into the lineup with Morris and Paul George as the only natural forwards.

Kawhi Leonard Ruled Out For Game 5

June 27th, 2021 at 6:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

JUNE 27: Leonard has officially been ruled out for Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, Mark Medina of USA Today tweets. Leonard will remain in Los Angeles to continue his knee rehabilitation.

JUNE 26: Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard hasn’t played yet in the Western Conference finals and it doesn’t appear he’ll return for Game 5 on Monday. Sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that it’s “highly unlikely” Leonard will make the trip to Phoenix (video link).

Leonard is recovering from a right knee injury that he suffered June 14 against Utah. He didn’t accompany the Clippers for the opening two games of the series with the Suns, and there are concerns that air travel would be harmful to the knee, according to Haynes.

Speaking to reporters today, coach Tyronn Lue said that Leonard, who has been ruled out of tonight’s Game 4, continues to offer advice to his teammates and has been “a lot more vocal” since the injury, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

The news is better for Clippers teammate Marcus Morris, who has been cleared to play tonight, Youngmisuk adds (via Twitter). Morris, who is also dealing with a knee issue, was a game-time decision on Thursday.

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Leonard, Warriors, Lakers

June 27th, 2021 at 11:57am CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers overcame deficits to get past the Mavericks and Jazz, but they admit it’s a bigger challenge to be on the brink of elimination in the Western Conference Finals, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. After losing at home to the Suns Saturday night, L.A. will need three straight wins to salvage its season, starting Monday at Phoenix.

“Definitely a different feeling,” Terance Mann said. “There’s no room for error. Just got to take it a game at a time now. Just got to try and go get Game 5 and be ready to try to force a Game 7.”

Shooting was the biggest issue for the Clippers in Game 4 as they connected at a 32.5% rate from the field and were just 5 of 31 from three-point range. They had 12 chances in the fourth quarter to tie or take the lead, but weren’t able to convert any of them.

“Just got to take it one game at a time. Just focus on Monday’s game, that’s it,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “Not focus on winning three games. Got to take it one game at a time, and that’s got to be our mindset. We beat Utah and won four games in a row. So it’s very doable. We’ve just got to make sure we’re locked in and understand what we’re doing offensively.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Kawhi Leonard is considered unlikely to return for Game 5, and Clippers teammate Paul George believes that’s the best decision, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Leonard hasn’t played since suffering a knee injury nearly two weeks ago. “I can’t speak for him, to the health of Kawhi,” George said. “If he’s not 100 (percent), we don’t want him out there. I mean, that’s just as a brother, as a teammate. His health long term is more important than what’s going on now.”
Landing the No. 7 pick in Tuesday’s lottery adds to the return the Warriors got in the deal that sent D’Angelo Russell to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins, notes Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Bay Area. Russell was acquired from the Nets in a sign-and-trade for Kevin Durant, but he wasn’t in Golden State’s long-term plans. The Warriors were able to flip him to the Timberwolves for Wiggins, who is a better fit, and got valuable draft compensation as well.
Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times examines the benefits of the sale of a minority stake in the Lakers to Dodgers owners Mark Walter and Todd Boehly.

Pacific Notes: Anschutz, Vogel, Leonard, Bagley

June 26th, 2021 at 10:32am CST by Dana Gauruder

Philip Anschutz has agreed to sell his 27% stake in the Lakers, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times confirms. Anschutz is the founder of AEG and owns the team’s arena, the Staples Center. Dodgers owners Mark Walter and Todd Boehly are making the purchase and the transaction values the Lakers at about $5 billion, Scott Soshnick of Sportico reports.

The sale of Anschutz’s stake in the Lakers, which is the largest outside of the Buss family, has to be approved by the league’s Board of Governors. Anschutz also owns of the NHL’s Kings and the MLS’ Galaxy. A major long term question is whether Anschutz’s first right to purchase, should the Buss family ever want to sell its majority stake, will transfer to the two buyers, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN tweets.

According to the Sportico report, the buyers will get those transfer rights.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Frank Vogel is entering the final year of his three-year contract with the Lakers and some members of the organization are surprised he hasn’t already received an extension, according to Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register. Vogel could also face numerous staff changes since Jason Kidd, who has agreed to be the head coach of the Mavericks, could take several assistants with him to Dallas, Goon adds.
Kawhi Leonard has not appeared in the Western Conference Finals and will miss Game 4 on Saturday due to a knee injury, but he’s been a major presence off the court, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports notes. Leonard and another injured Clippers player, Serge Ibaka, have been dispensing advice during games and practices. “Kawhi and Serge both have been great… Kawhi is just more, you know, everything: offense, defense, moving the basketball, how we can attack certain matchups, defensively how we can do different things on certain players,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “So, he’s always engaged on both ends.”
Marvin Bagley III‘s future with the Kings remains up in the air and he’s facing a social media backlash from Sacramento fans, according to James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area. Bagley liked a tweet that stated, “We’ve got to get @MB3Five outta Sac man.” After a negative reaction from fans, Bagley removed any mention of the Kings from his bio on both Twitter and Instagram. Sacramento has already picked up Bagley’s $11.3MM option for next season but he’ll be eligible for free agency next summer.

Kawhi Leonard Won’t Play In Game 4

June 25th, 2021 at 6:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kawhi Leonard will sit out Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN and other media members (Twitter link). Another prominent Clippers forward, Marcus Morris, will be a game-time decision.

Leonard hasn’t played since injuring his knee during Game 5 of L.A.’s second-round series against the Jazz.

The Clippers are officially calling Leonard’s knee injury a sprain, but few details have been released about the severity. There was concern last week that he might have damaged his ACL, but there’s been no confirmation one way or the other.

Leonard was averaging 30.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG and 4.4 APG in 11 postseason games prior to the injury.

Morris played 24 minutes in the Clippers’ Game 3 victory over Phoenix, contributing eight points and five rebounds in 24 minutes. He’s also been battling a knee issue.

The Suns lead the series 2-1.

Kawhi Leonard Ruled Out For Game 3

June 23rd, 2021 at 7:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers have another 0-2 hole to climb out of, but this time they’ll have to do it without Kawhi Leonard. The star forward has officially been ruled out of Thursday’s Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.

Leonard hasn’t played since hurting his knee nine days ago in Game 5 of L.A.’s series against the Jazz. The Clippers managed to win the final two games of that series without him, but are staring at a deficit again after dropping back-to-back games in Phoenix.

Coach Tyronn Lue said over the weekend that he’s preparing to play the entire conference finals without Leonard, just to avoid the game-to-game uncertainty of whether he’ll be available.

The Clippers are officially calling Leonard’s knee injury a sprain, but few details have been released about the severity. There was concern last week that he might have damaged his ACL, but no one has confirmed whether that happened.

Kawhi Leonard Still Sidelined For Game 2

June 21st, 2021 at 5:35pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue has confirmed that All-Star wing Kawhi Leonard will remain sidelined for Game 2 of L.A.’s Western Conference Finals series against the Suns, tweets Mark Medina of USA Today. Leonard has been unavailable since the closeout Game 6 of the Clippers’ second-round series against the Jazz with a right knee sprain.

While Leonard is unable to contribute on the court, he continues to stay engaged with the Clippers from afar, Medina writes for USA Today. Lue said that Leonard helped the club make some key halftime adjustments to beat the Jazz in Game 6.

“He came into the coaches’ office, just talking about different strategies,” Lue said. “He just wanted to know our game plan, how we are going to start, what’s our coverages and things like that. So he’s very engaged.”

Clippers center Ivica Zubac also said that Leonard remains involved with the club, and continues to text the team in a group chat thread while they’re on the road in Phoenix and in-person in Los Angeles, tweets Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times.

Lue has stated previously that he hopes Leonard can rejoin the Clippers on the court at some point during the series, but is game-planning as if the All-NBA forward will be unavailable.

The team is also missing nominal starting center Serge Ibaka, done for the postseason after undergoing back surgery earlier this month. The status of big man Marcus Morris ahead of tomorrow’s Game 2 remains up in the air, Medina also noted. Lue said that Morris is “getting treatment around the clock,” but “is still experiencing soreness.” Morris suffered a knee injury in the first of Game 1, a 120-114 Suns victory.

Clippers Notes: Mann, Leonard, Lue, George

June 19th, 2021 at 10:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

In the most important game in Clippers‘ history, the hero was a second-year swingman whose name may be unfamiliar to most NBA fans, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Terance Mann scored a career-high 39 points in Friday’s close-out win over the Jazz, connecting on 15-of-21 shots from the field and 7-of-10 from three-point range.

Mann, who played a combined 9:10 in the first two games of the series, sparked the L.A. comeback Friday with 20 points in the third quarter as the Clippers advanced to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. His shooting success enabled coach Tyronn Lue to stick with a smaller lineup that left Utah scrambling to defend the perimeter.

“When you trust your work, you trust in yourself,” Mann said, “you’re not surprised when any of this happens.”

There’s more on the Clippers:

There’s still hope that injured forward Kawhi Leonard can rejoin the team sometime during the conference finals, but Lue said he’s preparing to go through the series without him, tweets Mark Medina of USA Today. Leonard, who injured his knee on Monday, didn’t travel with the team to Phoenix and has been ruled out of Sunday’s Game 1. “We can’t have hypotheticals and think he’s coming back one game,” Lue said. “No. We have to prepare like he’s not playing, and just kind of go from there.”
Paul George enjoyed his first playoff game with a capacity crowd in his hometown of Los Angeles, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Last year’s postseason took place at the Disney World complex in Orlando, and COVID-19 restrictions prevented the Clippers from filling their arena until Friday night. “This was my first time experiencing a crowd like this,” George said. “It was just a special night. You felt it, the cheers, the excitement. You felt the monkey off of the Clippers’ back in terms of getting out of the second round.”
Josh Robbins of The Athletic talks to an anonymous coach, scout, and executive from the Western Conference and gets a split decision in their predictions for the conference finals.

Kawhi Leonard Won’t Travel To Phoenix For Game 1

June 19th, 2021 at 7:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:10pm: The Clippers have officially ruled Leonard out for Game 1, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.

5:00pm: The right knee injury that forced Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard to miss the past two games will also keep him out of Sunday’s opener of the Western Conference finals, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Leonard won’t make the trip to Phoenix, choosing to stay in Los Angeles and get treatment on the knee. There’s no update yet on his status for Game 2 or the rest of the series.

He hasn’t played since hurting the knee midway through the fourth quarter of Game 4 against the Jazz. There are concerns that it might be an ACL injury, but the team is still officially calling it a sprain.

Leonard had been outstanding in the playoffs before being sidelined. He averaged 32.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists in the first round against the Mavericks, then posted a 27.3/7.5/4.0 line in four games against Utah.

Woj’s Latest: Irving, Harden, Leonard, Paul

June 17th, 2021 at 12:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

There’s “no expectation” that injured point guard Kyrie Irving will return during the Nets‘ series with the Bucks, even if it goes to a seventh game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said this morning on “Get Up” (video link).

Irving, who is dealing with a a sprained right ankle he suffered Sunday, has already been ruled out for tonight’s Game 6. He didn’t travel to Milwaukee with his teammates, opting to stay in Brooklyn to get treatment on the ankle.

The Nets remain hopeful that Irving will be available for the Eastern Conference finals if they able are to advance, but Woj said they “don’t have a real timetable” on a possible return.

Wojnarowski shared a few more items during the ESPN segment:

Nets guard James Harden may not be fully recovered from a hamstring injury, but he will definitely be in the lineup for Game 6. Harden played 46 minutes in Game 5 and should be available for the rest of the series if he doesn’t aggravate the hamstring.
The Clippers don’t expect to have Kawhi Leonard back for Game 6 or 7 against Utah, and his return at any time during the playoffs is uncertain. The team will learn more about Leonard’s status in “the next 24 to 48 hours,” Wojnarowski adds, saying the Clippers are hopeful that it’s not a severe injury that will impact Leonard beyond this season.
The Suns are optimistic that Chris Paul won’t miss significant time after being placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. However, Wojnarowski adds that Phoenix is hoping the Jazz-Clippers series gets extended to a seventh game so the Suns won’t have to play again until Tuesday. He cautions that Paul and the team are “at the mercy of the testing” and have no control over what those results will show.