The San Antonio Spurs will have to wait a little longer to get superstar forward Kawhi Leonard back in action. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reports he won’t play this Thursday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
However, Shelburne notes that Leonard is feeling “much better” and that the Spurs are optimistic he will return before the end of the regular season.
Kawhi Leonard will NOT play Thursday vs the Pelicans, per source. He's feeling "much better" but still not quite ready to return but there's still optimism he can return before the end the season.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) March 13, 2018
Previously, Leonard was said to be targeting a return this Thursday.
ESPN's Lisa Salters is reporting that San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard could return as early as Thursday's game against New Orleans. League sources tell me that barring a setback, Thursday vs. Pels is indeed the targeted return of Leonard to the lineup.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 11, 2018
Obviously, this didn’t happen. But the news that he’s feeling better is encouraging. That said, we’re coming down to crunch time. And if Leonard is going to help the Spurs wriggle into the playoffs (currently tied with four teams for the final two seeds) and make noise in the postseason, he need to get his feet wet during the regular season.
So far this year, Leonard has still managed to play in just nine games and his return to action has been reported as right around the corner for a while now.