Media days have begun around the NBA, which means optimism is in abundance as teams are all excited for the prospect of the upcoming season and believe this may be the year they breakthrough to whatever the next level for them is.
Nowhere is that more true than in Los Angeles where both the Lakers and Clippers have newly minted star duos and expectations of a championship run. While the excitement for the Paul George and Kawhi Leonard duo is palpable, it’s going to be a bit of time before those two can get on the court together.
George is still recovering from shoulder injuries that limited him towards the end of last season and into the playoffs, and had surgery on his right and left shoulders in the offseason. There has not been an official timetable given for his return, but the expectation has been that he’ll miss at least a little bit of time. George effectively confirmed that on Sunday when he sat down with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and told her he will miss all of camp and the start of the season, and is targeting November as a hopeful return.
The return date for Paul George is a bit of a moving target. But he told me today he’s out all of training camp and hoping to be back “November-ish” catch the full interview in @SportsCenter later today.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) September 29, 2019
The good news for the Clippers is that, of the teams that pieced together new star pairings this offseason, they are the group thought to have the deepest roster and are capable of filling the gaps for an absence of one of their stars moreso than, say, the Lakers. The biggest issue is making sure they get George fully healthy and in position to be at his best come playoff time, but there is some concern about building the necessary on court chemistry with this new group and this will only delay that from happening.
