We’re getting close to the end of the 2017-18 NBA campaign, which is putting the San Antonio Spurs into a weird spot. Sure, there’s a chance that the team might miss the postseason in the absolutely brutal Western Conference, but beyond that, there’s a legitimate question to be asked regarding whether it’s worth bringing Kawhi Leonard back from injury this season.
Leonard has been hindered by a lingering injury to his right quad, and because of it, he’s only appeared in nine game this season. Every time it looks like there might be progress on this front, something seems to pop up that prevents Leonard from meeting his target date.
All of this begs the question whether San Antonio would punt on bringing Leonard back this year. There’s an argument to be made that a lot of pressure would be taken off of both sides if there’s a point of no return for Leonard. Gregg Popovich also made it clear before San Antonio played Golden State on Monday night that he find that idea completely ludicrous.
Pop was asked if there was a point of no return for when to bring back Kawhi Leonard: "No, why would we do that?"
— Michael C. Wright (@mikecwright) March 20, 2018
Popovich obviously wants to win a title, so it would make sense that he doesn’t want to completely rule Leonard out, even though this wouldn’t necessarily be the worst course of action. After Monday night, the Spurs will have 11 games remaining this season, and no matter what, Popovich expects Leonard to take the floor as long as he can get cleared.
