Kawhi Leonard Says 'You Can't Rush Greatness' After Playing 24 Minutes in Return to Raptors

Kawhi Leonard doesn't seem concerned about when he will be able to ramp up to full participation after seeing limited playing time in his Wednesday night return to the Toronto Raptors.

Leonard, whose reunion with Toronto was delayed until his trade from the Los Angeles Clippers was finalized a month ago, scored 23 points in just 24 minutes of a 135-92 season-opening win over the Chicago Bulls.

"I don't put targets. You can't rush greatness," Leonard said when asked Wednesday night about a target date for when he'll play a full allotment of minutes.

Leonard continued: "Whenever the medical thinks I could push forward, and I'm feeling great— whatever numbers we're looking at, or they're looking at, then that's when that time will come.

"I'm just happy to be out there and try to do the best I can with my minutes."

Leonard shot just 5-for-17 from the field and 2-for-6 from deep Wednesday night, but was perfect on 11 attempts from the foul line against the Bulls.

He also added six rebounds, two assists, four steals and a block in his first game with the Raptors since leading the team to a title in 2019.

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Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said after the game he isn't worried about Leonard's relative shooting inefficiency.

"I thought the shots that he was getting were really good shots. He's still building his capacity to play... every minute that he spends on the court, that capacity is going to just go up," Rajaković said.

Rajaković also said Leonard had asked him for more playing time after he was subbed out late in the blowout.

About his successful request for more playing time in the fourth quarter, Leonard said, "I haven't gotten a chance to play a lot in training camp, so any minutes I can get, or continue to play— I know we was blowing them out, but the goal was to try to get 23, 24 minutes tonight, and I just need more reps to learn plays."

Leonard continued, "You get better on the floor, and trying things, and shooting the ball when you're open. You can't wait 'til practice and just shoot 100 shots. You need game reps."

The Raptors initially agreed to acquire Leonard from the Clippers in June. The trade was finalized in late September following an NBA investigation into alleged salary cap circumvention.

Rajaković told reporters last month the Raptors planned to keep age and injury history in mind while ramping up Leonard, who said last month he was "wasn't able to really do much with the trade in a holding pattern."

Leonard will get his next opportunity to continue re-adjusting to the Raptors after seven years away when his team hits the road for a Friday night matchup against Anthony Davis and the Washington Wizards, who opened their season Wednesday night with a win over the Milwaukee Bucks.