Kawhi Leonard started off his second Raptors tenure with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block in a 135-92 blowout win against the Chicago Bulls. It’s a pretty impressive stat line for just 24 minutes of action, and he tied with Scottie Barnes for the most points in the game, but Leonard was very inefficient. He shot just 29.4% from the field, making two of his six 3-point attempts and five of his 17 total shots. He was perfect from the free-throw line, though.
Leonard is usually a very efficient scorer. He averaged 49.9% shooting from the field over his first 14 seasons in the NBA and shot 50% or at least very close to it in the last five seasons.
So, his inefficient return to the Raptors lineup really shouldn’t be anything to worry about. He is still ramping up after spending most of training camp and preseason working on reconditioning.
“I thought that the shots that he was getting were really good shots,” Darko Rajakovic said in the postgame media availability. “He’s still building his capacity to play…That’s just part of the process, but every minute that he spends on the court, that capability is going to go up.”
Moreover, it’s a great sign that the Raptors blew out the Bulls despite so many missed shots from Leonard. It speaks to their defense—they held the Bulls to 32% shooting from the field and 11% from 3-point range—and everyone else’s ability to contribute offensively.
Kawhi Leonard is taking a slow, deliberate approach to his second Raptors season
Leonard played just 24 minutes—although it would have been less if he hadn’t asked to go back into the game when it was already well decided. He didn’t need to play, but every minute matters when you’re trying to work yourself into mid-season form after a slow offseason. Jakob Poeltl was the only starter who played fewer minutes.
“You can’t rush greatness,” Leonard said in the postgame media availability when asked about his minute load. “Whenever the medical [team] thinks I could push forward and I’m feeling great, whatever numbers we’re looking at or they’re looking at, that’s when that time will come.”
Fans are eager to see as much of Leonard as possible and analyze his fit with his new teammates, but his injury history is not the most encouraging and the main goal is to get him to the playoffs healthy. So, while it’s not great that Leonard isn’t entering the season in excellent shape, it doesn’t hurt the Raptors to take things slow with him.
The rest of the starters also didn’t have to play a ton. None of them even logged 30 minutes, and the bench, including rookie Allen Graves, got some good run to start the season.
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