Spurs star Kawhi Leonard always improves some facet of his game following the offseason.

This year, his teammates expect him to make a leap in leadership.

“He’s obviously maturing more,” guard Danny Green said. “That’s probably the next thing for him, kind of being more vocal and putting guys in place.”

All of that, though, will have to wait after the Spurs announced Saturday that Leonard is expected to miss the preseason because of a lingering thigh injury.

The Spurs said there is no timetable for their linchpin player’s return from what the club termed right quadriceps tendinopathy, a condition that can cause the tendon to tire from overuse.

Leonard didn’t participate in Saturday’s Silver & Black scrimmage at the AT&T Center. Afterward, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich revealed Leonard’s injury is left over from last season and that he has been rehabbing it all summer.

“It’s gone a little more slowly than we thought,” Popovich said.

More Information Spurs key dates Monday: Spurs @Kings (preseason opener), 9 p.m. Friday: Kings @Spurs (preseason home opener), 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18: Timberwolves @Spurs (regular-season opener), 8:30 p.m., ESPN

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The Spurs open preseason play Monday in Sacramento. After five exhibition games, they kick of the regular season Oct. 18 at home against Minnesota.

“He will probably miss the beginning of preseason or a good deal of preseason,” Popovich said of Leonard. “We are not going to put a timetable on it. But he is working on it and we will get him back as soon as we can.”

With Leonard out after one week of training camp, the Spurs will start the preseason without two starters. Point guard Tony Parker is also sidelined while continuing to recover from surgery to repair the ruptured left quadriceps tendon he suffered in the Western Conference semifinals against Houston last spring.

“Rehab buddies,” Popovich called Leonard and Parker.

Popovich said Leonard’s sore thigh isn’t related to the left ankle injury that knocked him out of the Western Conference finals last season, ruining the Spurs’ bid for a sixth championship.

It’s uncertain when Leonard first experienced significant thigh pain last season. In March 2016, he suffered a right quad contusion in a game against the Miami Heat that sidelined him for the next three games.

Leonard, 26, had one of the greatest statistical years in franchise history last season when he averaged 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting 48.5 percent from the floor, 38.0 percent from 3-point range and 88.0 percent from the free-throw line.

He finished third in the MVP voting and was named first-team All-NBA and first-team All-Defense after a campaign that cemented his reputation as one of the game’s top two-way performers.

“It’s hard to top that,” Green said.

But the Spurs will need him to try if they hope to battle for a top seed in a loaded West. In an effort to overtake the defending-champion Golden State Warriors, who have won two of the last three NBA titles, the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves all added an All-Star or two.

The Spurs enjoyed a 25-point lead over the Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals last season before Leonard’s postseason ended when he came down on the foot of Golden State’s Zaza Pachulia.

Leonard said it took less than three weeks for his ankle to return to 100 percent.

The Spurs are hopeful that, with the time off in the preseason, the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year’s thigh will be back to normal soon as well.

“I think it’s all about coach wanting him to be 100 percent and ready to be Kawhi on both ends of the floor,” Spurs guard Dejounte Murray said. “That’s the important thing. Health is always first.”

torsborn@express-news.net

Twitter: @tom_orsborn