Kawhi or not, the Clippers' season may already be doomed before it starts

Well, it isn't even October yet and LA Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard is already injured. That surprising news came just days before the start of their training camp and puts an already questionable Clipper's roster in a tough spot. Although it is unclear how long Leonard will miss, it's not a good sign that his health is in doubt a month before the start of the regular season.

This is after Team USA dismissed him from the Olympic roster over injury concerns back in early July. At the time, Clippers fans were assured that it was only precautionary, and that Leonard was healthy, but that was clearly not the case. Nearly three months have passed, and Leonard is still not ready to play a game.

What's next for the LA Clippers following Kawhi Leonard's injury?

The Clippers chose to extend Leonard last season on a 3-year, $153 million deal while opting not to do the same for Paul George. That decision is looking more and more questionable considering George was willing to take a pay cut to stay with the Clippers and that they gave up significant assets to pair James Harden with both George and Kawhi.

Now George is in Philadelphia, who owns two of the Clippers first-round picks as well as a pick swap. Considering that Leonard's health will probably be a big question mark going forward, the Clippers find themselves in a bad spot with them having traded away virtually all of their picks with little to show for it.

Even if Leonard ultimately misses a handful of games to start the year, Los Angeles will likely still find themselves behind in the standings. After all, they have one of the tougher schedules in the NBA, especially early on.

They also probably wouldn't be in much of a position to make up ground later in the season, with Leonard almost certain to be on a load management schedule, which would probably limit his minutes and the number of back-to-back games that he plays.

That may result in the Clippers missing the playoffs next season, and they won't have control of their first-round pick and have no cap space to improve the roster next summer. The most obvious way to get out of this situation would be to trade Leonard.

However, his trade value is likely very low at the moment due to his injury risk and his age at 32 years old. At the moment, the best that the Clippers and their fans can do is wait and see if Leonard can return quickly from his injury and how effective he will be when he does play.