Raptors Insider: Why Toronto isn’t upset Kawhi Leonard is away from team while rehabbing - Toronto Star

The players know he's a special case so they aren’t mad he’s not sitting on the bench or on the plane with them.

Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, centre, looks on from the bench against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 25.

With so much invested in Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors are going to whatever lengths are necessary to make sure he’s healthy and surrounded by people who make him comfortable.

It’s why he has been away from the team since his left knee started swelling almost two weeks ago in Minnesota, seeking treatment from people who know him well and have dealt with him successfully and who he trusts implicitly.

He wasn’t in Toronto for the two games against Orlando and he wasn’t at either of the two games in Los Angeles on this current trip. He was back in Toronto when the Raptors played in Denver and he won’t be in Milwaukee on Friday night. He was on the bench for the first game of his hiatus in Minnesota but only because it was the second of two road games on that trip.

No one is concerned about it because of how central he is going to be to any success the Raptors have this season. The organization is going to great lengths to make sure he is happy with who’s working on his body and where.

To be sure, the Raptors kept close tabs on him when he was away and had staffers back in Toronto with him this week. And there’s no question Leonard respects and understands the skill of Raptors sports science team leader Alex McKechnie because of the bond they forged in 2018-19.

But letting Leonard go away to get treatment is a statement the franchise willingly made. It’s as if they say, ‘We’ll work closely with you however you need to get over this issue because we trust you, trust the people you trust and all that matters is having you at your best for at the end of the season.’

It’s a bit of a change for the Raptors. They like to have their players around the team, like the camaraderie it fosters, like the full control it gives them.

But Leonard is a special case in many ways. The players know it so they aren’t upset he’s not sitting on the bench or on the plane or around the practices and shootarounds.

They know how integral he’s going to be. Whatever it takes to get him right and keep him right is fine with everyone.

There’s no question that coach Darko Rajakovic is still trying to nail down a consistent playing rotation for the Raptors and it’s not hard to understand why.

He hasn’t had Leonard for six games and might not have him for another five or six; Jakob Poeltl sat out a couple of games on this road trip because of left shoulder bursitis and hadn’t been playing particularly well when he was available.

Rajakovic dusted off Alijah Martin for a couple of first-half minutes against the Lakers and Clippers; Trayce Jackson-Davis started a game; Kyle Anderson made a first-quarter appearance at the Intuit Dome.

The coach is experimenting and searching but one move he made was done to address a glaring weakness and everyone connected with the team understands why.

Jamison Battle is playing a lot because he has an undeniable NBA skill — he’s strong three-point shooter, making 44.1 per cent of his shots this season — and the Raptors need that badly. In private conversations, his teammates and the organization’s top decision-makers applaud the move.

Battle has averaged about 20 minutes a game in his last five games, providing consistent long-range effectiveness on a Raptors team ranked 25th of 30 teams in three-point percentage.

Rajakovic has been willing to overlook some flaws that irk him. Battle is not the best defender on the team by a long stretch and sometimes he eases into games. But Rajakovic knows what Battle can provide is what the Raptors need most.

“The way he was shooting the ball there at the end (six made threes in less than five minutes of the Lakers game) … that needs to be from the start of the game,” the coach said. “That’s something for him to work on and improve on. He’s constantly showing us the talent and potential, he needs to do that from the beginning (of the game).”

Rajakovic is using Battle more than he ever has and there’s no reason it should change when the full roster is available. His defensive limitations are more than offset by the shooting he provides.

It was interesting to see how the Raptors reacted to seeing a couple of old faces in Los Angeles earlier this week.

Sure, everyone checked in with Gradey Dick on Monday night at the Clippers game but it was a whole different level when the players saw Brandon Ingram.

The Raptors show love to their former teammate Brandon Ingram after the game 🤝 https://t.co/Tv8u0sZQxr

A group led by Immanuel Quickley basically chased Ingram around the Intuit Dome court after the game, laughing and joking with a guy who obviously had a big impact during one season in Toronto.

We’ll be finishing up Ye Olde Mailbag first thing Saturday morning so there’s still time to get your questions in. Send them along to askdoug@thestar.ca and we’ll take care of them.

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Doug Smith is a sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on BlueSky: @smithraptorsbeat.bsky.social.