Kawhi Leonard walked past the media in the Clippers’ locker room with a plate of food in his hand and appeared to be in a good mood. He even spoke to the media – however brief it was.

“What’s up?” Leonard said. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

What’s actually going on with Leonard and when will he make his season debut after missing the first 27 games of the season with a right knee injury?

Before the Clippers’ 144-107 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night at the Intuit Dome, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was asked about the team’s training plans for Leonard and whether he would join them on their upcoming trip to Dallas and Memphis.

“Um, I’m not sure about traveling right now,” Lue said. “It hasn’t been decided yet. So we’ll see what happens after tonight, tomorrow, to get a chance to reconsider everything and move on after tomorrow, so to speak. See what happens.”

The Clippers, where James Harden scored 41 points on 11-for-17 shooting, including seven-for-11 on three-pointers against the Jazz, have the next two days off before playing the Mavericks on Thursday and Saturday . The Clippers end their road trip against Memphis on December 23rd.

Lue was asked how Leonard had progressed after the forward took part in two non-contact training sessions last week.

“Very good progress made,” Lue said, “yes, very good progress.”

So is Leonard close to returning, perhaps in the next three or four games or a few weeks?

“I’m not sure,” Lue said.

Lue was then asked who might know the answer and laughed before saying that Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, would be the one to ask.

“You talk to them,” Lue said. “You’re trying to get me in trouble, man.”

Lue was told that reporters didn’t want to make false assumptions about Leonard’s possible return timeline.

“And I don’t want to say the wrong thing,” Lue said, laughing. “Well, I don’t know.”‘

But Lue offered room for optimism.

“There’s a chance he could travel,” Lue said. “That’s not decided yet, so we’ll find out.”

Leonard last played in April, in Game 3 of the first round against the Mavericks.

He trained with USA Basketball in Las Vegas in July, but was ultimately sent home and did not compete in the Paris Olympics.

Leonard averaged 23.7 points per game with a team-best 6.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists last season. He shot 57.3% from the field and 39.3% from three-point range.

Meanwhile, the Clippers are moving on without Leonard, who watched the game from the bench on his bobblehead night.

And in a game where the Clippers tied their season high, it was Harden who made major strides, becoming the ninth player in franchise history to have multiple games with more than 40 points in a single season.

Harden scored 24 points in the first quarter, the second-most points scored in a single quarter in Clippers history. In the quarter he was 6-for-9 from the field, 5-for-7 from 3-point range and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

His work helped the Clippers to an 81-47 halftime lead and allowed them to keep pushing forward from there.