Tyronn Lue says Kawhi Leonard, Paul George will be '100%' to start training camp
The LA Clippers have been continually hamstrung by injuries to star forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Pertaining to the 2023-24 NBA season, though, both players appear ready to roll.
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue recently said that Leonard and George are each on track to be 100% for the upcoming season.
"They’re both on track to be 100% by the time training camp starts, and that’s what we need," Lue said on Monday's edition of the "#thisleague UNCUT" podcast. "You know, our best players will be healthy, and we’ve just been in an unfortunate situation where our two best players [haven’t had] a full season together the last three years and that’s been tough on us ...
"We have to, like I say, start respecting the regular season and giving our fans what they want to see and playing hard every single night, putting our best product on the floor."
The Clippers went 44-38 last season, good for the fifth seed in the Western Conference. They then lost to the Phoenix Suns in five games in Round 1 with George missing the playoffs entirely due to a leg injury and Leonard missing the last three games of the series due to a knee injury; the Clippers won Game 1 of the series in Phoenix before dropping the next four.
Leonard appeared in 52 games last season after missing the 2021-22 season due to a torn ACL, which he suffered in the 2020-21 NBA playoffs. In the time Leonard did play, he averaged 23.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 51.2/41.6/87.1.
Across the 56 games that George appeared in before his season-ending leg injury, he averaged 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 45.7/37.1/87.1. The year prior, George was limited to 31 games due to an elbow injury. Leonard and George have each never appeared in 60 regular-season games for the Clippers across their four seasons in the organization.
Both players are potentially entering the final year of their respective contracts, as they have player options for the 2024-25 season.
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Leonard, 32, is a two-time NBA champion who has earned five All-NBA honors. George, 33, has earned six All-NBA and eight All-Star Game honors.