Will the return of Kawhi Leonard spell bad news for the Utah Jazz?

The return of San Antonio Spurs superstar Kawhi Leonard, who’s aiming to suit up on Thursday, could mean bad news for the Utah Jazz and the rest of the West.

To say it’s been a weird season for Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs would be a drastic understatement. He’s dealt with somewhat mysterious injuries to his shoulder and quad that have never seemed to be reported on clearly. His lengthy bouts with injury have kept him sidelined for all but nine games this season and while the Spurs held on early, they’ve tumbled all the way to seventh in the West, just one game ahead of the tenth place Utah Jazz.

But it’s not just the injuries themselves that have been weird, but rather all the speculation and changing statuses that have come with them. At one point it was even announced that tension had developed between Leonard and the Spurs regarding his recovery. It wasn’t long ago that head coach Gregg Popovich said he wouldn’t be surprised if Leonard didn’t return at all this season.

Shortly after that, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski indicated that Kawhi was cleared to play, but the decision to return was his. Yet he still wasn’t ready to return even then.

However, it seems the confusing saga is about to come to end (or perhaps initiate a new chapter?) as it has been reported by several sources, including Lisa Salters of ESPN, that Leonard will aim to return to the lineup this Thursday when the San Antonio Spurs host the New Orleans Pelicans.

If such holds true, suddenly the Spurs, who have plummeted down the standings as one of the coldest teams in the league after losing eight of their last ten, will get a whole lot more intimidating. Sure, having Kawhi back in that contest against the Pelicans and potentially handing a loss to New Orleans could ultimately be helpful for the Jazz as they seek to push their way into the playoffs, but overall, Leonard’s return could actually be a bad thing for Utah.

The principal reason for that is quite simple. As the standings are currently, Utah is just one game behind the Spurs over whom they already own the tiebreaker considering that they’ve gone 3-0 against them this year. With how poorly San Antonio has played of late, they were beginning to look like one of the more likely teams that the Jazz would be able to surpass, especially considering how favorable Utah’s schedule is from here on out compared to that of the Spurs.

But with Kawhi Leonard presumably back in action, the Spurs should instantly become a better team. When at his best, he’s easily one of the top-five players in the league that makes an incredible impact on both ends of the floor. San Antonio has been floundering of late, but the return of Kawhi could very well inject them with new life and help drive them back up the standings.

Not to mention, four games after Kawhi’s targeted return date, the Spurs will host the Utah Jazz themselves who will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back. Considering how well the Jazz have played against San Antonio this season, with Leonard believed to be unavailable for that contest, many were feeling good about Utah’s chances. Now with Kawhi presumably back and with a few games under his belt ahead of that game, it’s going to be all the more difficult for the Jazz and could result in a crucial loss down the stretch.

Considering that Utah is just one game back of the Spurs and has a much easier schedule, the Jazz could still very well surpass them, especially if they remain undefeated in their pair of games between now and when Leonard is set to return while San Antonio is forced to grapple with the Houston Rockets on Monday. From there, the Jazz can only control their own games and hope to get a tough win over the Spurs near the end of March, but there’s no denying that keeping pace with San Antonio will be tough moving forward if Kawhi is back in action.

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Leonard is bound to have some rust and his teammates will need to adjust to him as well, so there’s no telling how quickly the Spurs, whose issues have been plentiful, will be able to recover. Nevertheless, if he’s anywhere near the player we saw last year, Kawhi is going to make his team instantly better and a force to be reckoned with in the West.

And that’s bad news, not only for the Utah Jazz as they try to force their way up the standings, but for the entire rest of the Western Conference. Although San Antonio has been pretty awful of late, they’ll certainly be a team to keep a close eye on now with Kawhi Leonard likely set to return on Thursday.