Kawhi Leonard’s prognosis has continued to worsen.

The Los Angeles Clippers All-Star announced in September that he planned to play in Wednesday’s season opener after it was revealed he had undergone offseason knee surgery. Last week it was announced that Leonard would be out indefinitely due to lingering knee inflammation that sidelined him in the playoffs last season.

On Wednesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Leonard will be out for “weeks” with the injury.

“I was told that Kawhi Leonard will be out for several weeks,” Charania reported Wednesday. “This is not an injury that you can measure in a week, possibly two weeks. Of course not in days.”

“The Clippers will have to start this season without him for an extended period of time.”

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue declined to offer a timeline when asked Wednesday about Leonard’s progress following Charania’s report.

That’s not good news for a retooled Clippers team that wanted to rely even more heavily on Leonard after losing All-Star Paul George to the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency after he couldn’t agree to the terms of a long-term contract .

When healthy, Leonard remains one of the game’s most dangerous two-way players. He is an elite defender who averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 41.7% from 3-point range last season .

But his health and availability have been an ever-changing target that has weighed on his career since his time with the San Antonio Spurs ended. Leonard’s 68 games last season were his longest since joining the Clippers in 2019. But knee inflammation sidelined him for the final eight games of the regular season and four of six playoff games in the opening round of the season lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the postseason.

Prior to last season, Leonard had not played more than 57 games in any of his previous four seasons with the Clippers. He missed the entire 2021-22 season with a torn ACL. Now he’s on track to miss another significant portion of the regular season.

Leonard’s absence means the Clippers will rely more on James Harden and offseason additions Derrick Jones Jr. and Kevin Porter Jr. to shoulder the load. The Clippers open their season on Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns. They will do so at home in the first game of the regular season at the team’s new home stadium in Inglewood, the Intuit Dome.