Kawhi Leonard’s first preseason absence was supposed to be about patience. Instead, it immediately became part of the test.
Toronto announced Leonard would miss the opener for reconditioning, and when the Raptors took the floor against Miami on Saturday, the absence was impossible to separate from the result. Leonard did not play, the Raptors dressed just 12 players, and Toronto was beaten 129-105.
That is the tension hanging over the start of camp: the Raptors want Leonard built up the right way, but every game he misses also narrows the team’s ability to judge what it has in front of it.
Darko Rajakovic said Toronto is “being super cautious just to build him up the right way,” and added that Leonard “didn’t play any live basketball at all this whole summer.” Leonard is coming back after a long summer layoff, and the team has been careful about how it handles his return to game shape.
The caution is understandable. Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season because of a torn right ACL, and even last season, when he played 65 games, his availability remained a central part of the Raptors’ planning. Over the course of his career, he has averaged only 57 games per season.
But the opener showed how quickly his absence can affect the picture around the team. Toronto shot 12-of-41 from the field, scored 21 points in transition in the first half, and had only 12 active players available. That left the Raptors with limited room to adjust when the offense stalled.
RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes led Toronto with 15 and 11 points, respectively, but the broader performance never found much rhythm. Without Leonard, the Raptors were forced to lean on a thin group and evaluate a preseason game that already came with a built-in caveat: one of the team’s most important players was not available, and the team was still trying to figure out what it looked like without him.
That is why Leonard’s reconditioning is more than a side note in October. It is part of the evaluation itself. Toronto can talk about patience, health and the long view, but the first preseason game showed how quickly Leonard’s status becomes inseparable from the Raptors’ own readiness.