For the Clippers, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

As the Los Angeles-based club ushers in a new era in the 2024-25 season with a new arena and logo, it continues to deal with injury concerns to its franchise star, Kawhi Leonard.

On Tuesday, Shams Charania and Law Murray of The Athletic reported that Leonard underwent a procedure on his knee in the offseason and will be “limited to strengthening his knee” at the start of training camp next week. As such, the defensive ace could potentially miss the Clippers’ opening night fixture against Kevin Durant’s Suns on Oct. 23.

Earlier in the day, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank revealed the swelling in Leonard’s knee, which forced him to miss a chunk of the playoffs last season, has “significantly gone down” but remains a concern ahead of training camp. 

“It’s [the swelling] almost gone. He wants to participate in everything in training camp,” Frank said of Leonard. “But we’re going to hold him back from drill work and really focus on strengthening because the goal is to get him 100 percent so he can have a great season. Not just this year, but for many years.” 

Frank added that Leonard is “super determined” to clear all the steps in his recovery and rejoin his teammates on the floor as soon as possible. However, he remained noncommittal about the star forward being ready for the start of the 2024-25 campaign. 

“The timing [of his return] will depend on how his knee responds to each phase. No one has a crystal ball,” Frank stressed. 

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue echoed those sentiments, noting that he and his staff don’t plan to take any “shortcuts” and won’t play Leonard until he “checks all the boxes” in his recovery. 

If Leonard’s 2024-25 season is also marred by injuries, it would be a recurring trend since he arrived in Los Angeles in 2019. The two-time Finals MVP missed the entire 2021-22 season with a torn ACL and played just two games during the 2023 playoffs with a torn meniscus. He enjoyed his healthiest season in years in 2023-24 by appearing in 68 games, only to re-injure his knee before the 2024 playoffs.