Darko Rajakovic Hands Kawhi Leonard New Job at Raptors Camp

Forward Kawhi Leonard has not taken part in a live scrimmage yet with the Toronto Raptors, but he still found a way to make his mark at Thursday night's open practice in Quebec City.

In front of a sold-out crowd of 3,383 at the University of Laval, head coach Darko Rajakovic let Leonard draw up a play out of a timeout.

Leonard did the drills portion of practice and sat out the scrimmage, which the team is calling reconditioning, but he still looked like he was moving well.

He waved to the crowd during introductions and talked trash during the shooting drills, which is not the Kawhi most fans picture.

Rajakovic did not spring it on him, either, and he gave Leonard the afternoon to think it over.

"He was excited about it," said Rajakovic, speaking Thursday night. "I gave him the task this afternoon so he had time to plan it and think about it. It did not go the way we wanted, but we scored, so we're going to give him credit anyway."

Toronto is clearly trying to keep its new star involved without putting him at risk.

Leonard was limited to individual workouts this summer while the trade with the Los Angeles Clippers was in limbo, so the Raptors are bringing him along slowly, and handing him the clipboard for a possession is a smart way to keep a player engaged when he has not had a full-contact practice with his new teammates yet.

Leonard said on Wednesday that he is close to game shape and that the limits are more about his minutes, adding that he expects to be fully active soon.

His return was the main topic in the room at media day, and his own update this week sounded upbeat.

With Leonard out of the scrimmage, shooting guard Ja'Kobe Walter got to run with the starters, and he hit two threes off paint touches from guard Immanuel Quickley.

Walter shot 40.9% from three last season after shooting 34.9% as a rookie, and he could push his way onto the list of Raptors worth watching this preseason.

Once Leonard is fully cleared, this offense changes completely.

He averaged 27.9 points per game with the Clippers last season and made 38.7% of his threes on 6.8 attempts per game, and he is also a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Adding that to a team that won 46 games and nearly knocked off the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round should make Toronto a real threat in the East.

The Raptors are paying him like a star after his new extension, so being careful with him in early October is the easy call.

Toronto opens the preseason on Saturday against the Miami Heat at Videotron Centre in Quebec City.

Leonard's status for Saturday has not been announced, and he has yet to do any contact work in camp.

The regular season starts Wednesday, Oct. 21, against the Chicago Bulls at Scotiabank Arena, and by then the Raptors hope Leonard is drawing up plays and running them himself.