It's hard to call Kawhi Leonard's first season as a Raptor anything but a success. The Raptors are essentially on pace for a 60 win season, currently 2nd in the East with many considering them Finals contenders. But there is one lone dark spot on what has been a strong debut from Kawhi, which is the amount of game's he has missed this year. Kawhi has missed 17 games already, but curiously very few of them have been due to apparent injury. The report has always been that Kawhi is missing the games for rest, or load management, as the injury report likes to call it. Besides what seems to be a hard rule to not have Kawhi play back to backs, the rest of the "Load Management" day seems random, and it is difficult to really determine where this decision is coming from. Is it the Front Office looking to preserve their young star in a tactical move? Or is it Kawhi's camp refusing to play? Both have their supporting reasons.
The well-known bust up between Kawhi and the Spurs were also linked to this type of behavior, with Kawhi essentially refusing to play last season. Kawhi was recovering from a bad injury sustained in the 2016-2017 playoffs and had other issues with his quadriceps, but by all accounts was fit enough to play much more than 9 games last season. So there is precedent for Kawhi to essentially call the shots on his own playing time. In addition, Kawhi in a sense has the Raptors organization at ransom. It is well known before the season he did not want to go to the Raptors at all, and at least in the beginning of the season was almost certainly going to leave after this year once his contract was up. And for the Raptors losing Kawhi after a one year rental, trading away one of their most beloved players in Demar Derozan to get him, would be a disaster for them if they don't win it all. Kawhi has a lot of power in this situation, and the Raptors FO might be bending over backwards to please Kawhi.
However, resting players in hardly a new concept. The Spurs especially were notorious for this, often resting their trio of stars, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli and Tim Duncan multiple times during the season. And if there is a organization to emulate, it would be Gregg Popovich and the Spurs. Just like the Spurs in those days, the Raptors are guaranteed to make the playoffs even with Kawhi sitting every few games, and as long as they finish in the top 4 probably aren't terribly concerned with seed. Looking at it from that perspective, sitting players to preserve them is just smart. Lebron James in his later seasons has also adopted this. On the other hand, this is generally a strategy reserved for older players, which Kawhi is not, only 27 this year. In addition, no other Raptor has been treated with this type of deference. Even 32 old star point guard Kyle Lowry, who actually has had reported back issues, has not sat as many games as Kawhi, or the 31 year old Danny Green, who came in the same trade as Kawhi and has played in every game but 2.
Regardless of the reason, there is no cause for any immediate concern with Kawhi Leonard and his "load management." Like stated before, the Raptors are still in second place in the East and are definite contenders, with some considering them favorites to win the East. But the future has a few dark clouds. What happens in the playoffs with Leonard? Will he sit out games then as well? Will he be able to handle the deluge of games that comes with being the the playoffs? What kind of message does it send the rest of the team for Kawhi to have this much sway in the organization, if he is indeed the one making the calls here? What happens if Kawhi does re-sign with the Raptors, will he be allowed to do whatever he wants for his tenure there or force a move away? This may be simple fear-mongering on what has been a successful season for the Toronto Raptors, and more hopeful than any in the past decade. But with the precedent Kawhi Leonard has set, it is a situation worth keeping an eye on.