Can Clippers make a title run if Kawhi Leonard returns this season?
Kawhi-time could be dawning upon the 2021-22 NBA season sooner than initially thought.
After suffering a torn ACL in the LA Clippers' second-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz last season, Kawhi Leonard was projected to miss the entire 2021-22 campaign as he underwent an extended rehabilitation process.
Most basketball connoisseurs believed Leonard –– who is known as the player that sparked the term "load management" for his string of DNPs when healthy –– wouldn't come close to touching the hardwood this season.
But Clippers fans got a dose of hope surrounding his status during their 106-89 loss to Phoenix on Thursday night.
Midway through the first quarter, TNT sideline reporter Chris Haynes revealed that Leonard's rehab is ahead of schedule.
"Sources have informed me that a return this season is a strong possibility [for Leonard]," Haynes told the viewing audience.
And for the Clippers franchise, that news boosts its morale to a tremendous degree, as it looks forward to his potential return.
"They won't be concerned with their playoff slotting [if he returns]," Haynes said. "They believe that if fully healthy, they'll be favorites over most in the West."
Leonard certainly moves the needle for a Clippers group that's been ravaged by injury this year.
Seven players, including Leonard and Paul George (torn elbow ligament), are currently sidelined for LA. Four are injured, while three are in COVID protocols and another three (Reggie Jackson, Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris) just returned to the lineup from protocols.
Now sitting at 19-20 –– good for eighth in the Western Conference standings near the season's midway point –– LA is in need of an astronomical shift.
Leonard, obviously, could be that.
His numbers have been stellar since he returned to his hometown a couple of years back. In 2019-20, he averaged 27.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game on 47% shooting from the floor, 37.8% from 3 and 88.6% from the charity stripe.
In 2020-21, Leonard put up 24.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 5.2 APG, marking the first time that he finished with at least five assists per game.
With Leonard in the lineup, the Clips are 77-32.
They are 38-36 without him.
Still, Shannon Sharpe said Friday that he doesn't believe Leonard is enough to shift the needle and help the Clippers cut their way through a crowded West.
"If he does come back, he's coming back to what?" Sharpe said on "Undisputed."
"You're going to get Phoenix, Golden State, maybe Utah in the first round. I think Phoenix is better than they were last year. The Clippers are not. Anybody can be beat once –– can you do it four times? It doesn't matter if he comes back. They're not winning a title."
Skip Bayless was of the opposite mindset, saying that a healthy Clippers team is a dangerous one.
"Is it possible that Paul George can come back at 90% And Kawhi 100%? Maybe, because Kawhi is now 30, and will turn 31 in June. He's looking at it like, ‘maybe this is a good shot for me. Maybe I could break through this year because we brought most of our players back that we wanted.’ They did re-sign Reggie Jackson, who was a playoff star last year.
"I'm telling you, if Kawhi can come back, you're going to be in trouble."
If the "Fun Guy" can bring a little more excitement to the deep West, that would be a gift for all NBA fans.
But for Clippers fans, seeing Leonard on the court would be less about fun and more about their title hopes being restored.
