The NBA’s punishment of the Los Angeles Clippers in the Kawhi Leonard scandal gave the Boston Celtics a clear long-term boost, because the pick swap Boston received in the Paul George trade just got a lot more valuable. But the other side of that development is a lot less comfortable for the Celtics: nothing appears to be standing in the way of Leonard heading back to Toronto.
That matters because Leonard is still a major force. He’s no longer sitting at the very top of the league’s player pyramid, but he’s close enough, especially after landing on the All-NBA second team. Even in his mid-30s, he still has plenty left.
If the trade goes through, Toronto would be getting back the player who helped deliver a title seven years ago, and he’d be stepping into a roster that just finished an exciting playoff run. The Raptors would also be replacing Brandon Ingram, who didn’t do much in the postseason, with Leonard, a proven playoff riser.
That instantly pushes Toronto into the conversation as one of Boston’s biggest threats in the Eastern Conference. That was already the case when the Raptors first brought him back, but the NBA’s investigation had left the deal in limbo.
On the same day the league punished the Clippers, ESPN’s Shams Charania said the move is expected to be finalized soon.
"The full expectation around the Raptors and around Kawhi Leonard and the league is that this trade will be going through in the next few days."
Toronto didn’t have to surrender a massive haul to get him. The package included two draft picks, a pick swap and Grady Dick, along with Ingram. For a player of Leonard’s caliber, that’s not a steep price, and the Clippers will need to make the most of what they received.
The comparison to what the Celtics got back for Jaylen Brown is hard to miss. Leonard’s age plays a role, but so does the reality that he has never exactly been the most reliable player from a health standpoint.
He’s coming off a fairly healthy season, but his injury history is still part of the conversation. The concern is always the same: he can miss a long stretch, or he can get hurt at the worst possible moment.
Even with that baggage, Leonard’s value remains obvious. He was healthy, made All-NBA second team, and still wasn’t enough to lift the Clippers past the play-in. That says a lot about where he is now: still elite, but not the automatic solution he once was.
Anyone in Toronto’s position would have made this move the first chance they got. Leonard remains an all-time talent who is only now starting to slide out of his prime. That makes the Raptors dangerous, though only if everything breaks right.
And that’s the unsettling part for Boston: in his first stint with Toronto, that’s exactly how it played out.
In Other News...
Celtics Fans Have A New Reason To Feel Better About Paul George
The Paul George debate has followed the Celtics since the deal was made, with plenty of criticism aimed at Boston for parting with Jaylen Brown and taking back a player many still view as the lesser talent in the swap. But the conversation around George looks a little different now when stacked against the history of how the Clippers handled their own pursuit of him, because Bostons move, while controversial, did not come with the same level of long-term baggage.
Los Angeles paid a far steeper price to get George, including multiple first-round picks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the deal has aged even worse as the Clippers' broader team-building picture has unraveled. The NBAs penalties tied to salary cap violations involving Kawhi Leonard only deepened the damage, leaving the George trade as part of a larger mess that now makes the Celtics' version look far easier to live with, even if it still raises questions. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Fans Have A New Reason To Watch That Future Clippers Pick
The NBAs punishment of the Clippers for circumventing the salary cap has added a fresh layer of intrigue for Celtics fans, especially when it comes to a future first-round pick Boston already had a reason to track. Los Angeles was docked first-round selections for five straight years beginning in 2029, a penalty that sharply changes the way the franchise can manage its long-term draft stock and build around Kawhi Leonards uncertain team timeline.
For Boston, the immediate interest is tied to the Clippers 2028 first-rounder, which is top-16 protected and could end up being swapped with the Celtics depending on how the lottery shakes out. It is the kind of distant asset that rarely stays top of mind for long, but with the Clippers now facing a much tighter grip on their future draft control, the pick suddenly looks a lot more worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Derrick White Suddenly Feels Less Safe In Bostons Core
Derrick White has become one of the most important pieces of Bostons core, the kind of all-around guard who fits just about any lineup and has earned plenty of praise for the way he plays on both ends. Even so, the conversation around his place in the long-term picture has gotten more complicated, with Sports Illustrateds John Karalis pointing to Whites value while also noting the Celtics salary cap squeeze as a real factor in how the roster is managed going forward.
Whites recent shooting has only added another layer to the discussion, because even a dependable role player can start to feel less secure when a team is trying to balance performance with cost. For Boston, the question is less about whether White helps them and more about whether the financial realities around the roster eventually force harder decisions than anyone wants to make right now. [Read more 🡒]