Sources: Spurs met to implore Kawhi to return

Kawhi Leonard underwent a procedure on his knee in May, sources tell The Athletic. Leonard only played in Games 2 and 3 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ first round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks due to soreness in his knee.

Leonard will be limited to strengthening his knee as the Clippers start training camp, but the team is optimistic about his progress.

Leonard did not participate in the Olympics with USA Basketball after initially reporting to their camp in July. The Clippers didn’t disclose the procedure previously.

Leonard and the Clippers signed a three-year, $152.4 million extension in January.

“His right knee, the swelling has significantly gone down,”Lawrence Frank said Tuesday. “It’s almost gone. He wants to participate in everything in training camp. 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. We’ll have a detailed plan step by step kind of measure, just having objective measures to go from one phase to the next. But he’s super determined, super excited and can’t wait to get started.”