The Los Angeles Clippers have dealt with constant injuries to Kawhi Leonard since he was signed in the 2019 offseason. Heading into the 2025-26 season, expectations were high that Leonard could have his healthiest season yet, since he had a healthy offseason under his belt. However, an injury late against the Miami Heat kept him out for 10 games, during which the Clippers went 2-8.

Now, Leonard has returned to the court and appeared in his second game back from injury on Tuesday night when the Clippers played at the LA Lakers. Leonard scored just 19 points in the 135-118 loss, but seeing him back on the court is exactly what the Clippers want to see. After the game, the two-time Finals MVP was asked about the state of his health.

"I feel good. Hopefully, we can build some minutes. Because this team needs it. Probably gonna have to up our minutes to get some wins. All of us. So we’ll see what happens," Leonard said.

In the two games he's played since his return, Leonard hasn't eclipsed 28 minutes, but was up to 37 minutes in the contest he played before being ruled out. While the Clippers can't expect Leonard to play 37 minutes per game on a nightly basis, getting him back toward that 30-34 minutes range would give the Clippers so much-needed help alongside James Harden.

During the nine games Harden played while Leonard was out, he averaged 36.9 minutes per game, boasting a stat line of 32.0 points, 8.2 assists, and 6.6 rebounds during that stretch. While the Clippers will need everything they can get from Harden at this point, they should be able to ease off his workload once Leonard returns to full health.

A healthy Kawhi Leonard should be able to get the Clippers back to the Play-In Tournament seeds, but that's far from solving this team's problems. With Bradley Beal having been ruled out for the season, the Clippers took a major hit to their offensive production, and other players like Bogdan Bogdanovic and John Collins will need to step it up if they want to chase the playoffs.

There's a possibility of the Clippers making trades, but the reality is they don't have much to give up, and shouldn't part ways with any draft picks they don't have to.

Expecting Leonard to be available for 65 games seems far-fetched right now, so Ty Lue and his staff will need to find ways to get the most out of the young players on this roster, since there aren't many other options outside of them.

The Clippers return to action on Friday at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, and they'll be looking for a strong win to try and swing momentum back in their favor after a poor road trip.