The latest Kawhi Leonard injury update is a nightmare for the Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers tipped off their new season without star Kawhi Leonard, who is still recovering from a knee injury dating back to last season. His recovery time has baffled Clippers fans who believed that he would be healthy to start this season only for reports to contradict that.

Now ESPN's Shams Charania reports that Leonard will be out weeks to start the season, not just a handful of games. Weeks is an ambiguous timeline for a player whose health is often shrouded in mystery. Additionally, ESPN's Brian Windhorst stated that he's nowhere near returning.

After losing All-Star Paul George this past summer, the Clippers are already likely worse than they were last season. Now, with Leonard out indefinitely, the Clippers suddenly look like one of the worst teams in the western conference.

Unfortunately for the Clippers, they still owe the Oklahoma City Thunder for the George trade and the Thunder have swap rights on the Clippers pick in next year's draft. That means that if the Clippers end up being a lottery team and end up with a high lottery pick, then the Thunder could simply swap selections.

Kawhi Leonard's injury situation is a nightmare for the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers have clearly tied their fortune to an off-injured player and that will probably not end well. Not only will they likely give up a lottery pick in next year's draft but they further mortgaged their future by trading for James Harden last season.

That cost them two first-round picks, a pick swap, and a second-round pick. That includes an unprotected first in 2028, two second-rounders, and a pick swap in 2029. With so few assets and a star that they can't seem to build around, their best bet is to hope that they can retool in free agency starting in the summer of 2026.

Given that Leonard is already 32 years old and has questionable health, the Clippers would be smart to try and trade him. He signed an extension last season that would keep him under contract for at least three more years, which would run through his age-35 season and a contender might still be interested in acquiring him.

Be that as it may, that requires him to be healthy enough to raise his trade value. Even despite him potentially missing several weeks, he may still go on to have a strong season, but the longer he remains out, the worse the end result is for Los Angeles.