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Kawhi Leonard on his rusty Raptors debut: 'You can't rush greatness'

Coming off best offensive season of his career but a strange off-season, Leonard and Raptors know he's a work in progress.

Published Oct 22, 2026  •  Last updated 13 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors shoots the ball against Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks during the second quarter of a preseason game at Madison Square Garden on October 15, 2026 in New York City. Photo by Caleb Bowlin /Getty Images

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Kawhi Leonard doesn’t seem too concerned about the rust he showed in his first official game as a Raptor in seven years.

While Toronto clobbered visiting Chicago 135-92 in its biggest opening night blowout yet, and while Leonard finished with 23 points in 23 minutes, he was nowhere close to his usual, dominant self.

Leonard missed 12 of 17 shots from the field and lacked his regular burst and lift, while seeming slower than normal, too. That’s all to be expected, though, considering he played only 39 minutes over two tuneup games ahead of the regular season and also started doing full work in training camp later than his teammates after a strange off-season that kept him off the court more than usual while the Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers waited to finalize their June trade.

Leonard did get to the free throw line 11 times — making all of his attempts — against the overmatched Bulls and also flashed signs of his past defensive dominance.

Afterward, he said his game is a work in progress, but it will come.

“I don’t have targets (in terms of when he’ll return to last season’s dominant level),” Leonard said.

“You can’t rush greatness. Whenever medical things I can push forward and I’m feeling great, whatever numbers (the medical staff is) looking at, that’s when the time will come.”

Like the Raptors, Leonard is taking a measured approach to the start of the season. And it was encouraging that when it seemed like his night was over 20 minutes into the blowout, he asked head coach Darko Rajakovic to let him play a bit more.

“I haven’t got a chance to play a lot in training camp, so any minutes I could get or continue to play, the goal was to try to get 23 or 24 minutes tonight,” Leonard said of re-entering less than a minute after being removed from the game.

“I just need more reps to learn plays. You get better on the floor and trying things. You can’t wait until practice and shoot 100 shots. You need game reps, and that’s what I was looking for.”

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