The Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers are acting like the Kawhi Leonard trade is already done, even with the NBA’s investigation still hanging over it.
That confidence matters because the deal has not been fully cleared yet. Leonard’s move from the Clippers to Toronto - with Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and draft compensation going the other way - was supposed to be one of the biggest swings of the offseason. Instead, the league’s review of Leonard’s salary cap scandal put the brakes on the process and left open the possibility that the trade could be voided.
Still, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that neither side is panicking. As he put it:
“They [the Raptors] were not aware that the trade would be halted. They understood that the investigation is ongoing… The investigation has been ongoing for a while, and yet, they still don’t have a ‘smoking gun’. So, a team like the Toronto Raptors was very comfortable in trying to trade and acquire Kawhi Leonard because they believed the same thing that if there were really something that would more than stick, it would have come already.”
“I do believe that the deal will ultimately go through. I don’t know what the NBA, with their independent investigation, are going to find… But the Raptors, they were very comfortable in making this deal, but they did not know that the league was going to put a halt on the trade. But still, I talked to both sides, and both sides still feel like this thing will be resolved, a trade will occur.”
Haynes also said Ingram and Dick were already around the Clippers during Summer League in Las Vegas, sitting on the bench like they were part of the team. That kind of visual doesn’t make the paperwork official, but it does show how both sides are carrying themselves.
Toronto has been doing the same. Leonard has already been included in team social events, another sign that the Raptors are moving as if the deal will stick.
At Kyle Lowry’s retirement press conference, Lowry said the team’s goal after bringing in Leonard was to win a championship. Scottie Barnes has also spoken up about the move, saying it could put the league on notice.
If the trade survives the investigation, Toronto will have every reason to feel good about its position. Leonard, now 35, is coming off one of his strongest seasons in years.
He averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 50.5% from the field and 38.7% from three. He also finished seventh in MVP voting.
The Clippers may get something out of the deal, but the Raptors are the team that looks transformed by it. Once the move is finalized, Toronto will look like a real threat in the East again. For now, both sides appear to believe the same thing: the trade will get resolved, and Leonard will end up in Toronto.
In Other News...
Clippers Fans Are Suddenly Buzzing About What Wagler Just Sparked
The Clippers are using Las Vegas Summer League the way plenty of teams do this time of year, as a first real look at young players who might matter later, and Keaton Wagler has become one of the names worth watching. The recent first-round pick out of Illinois had been working through a slow start to the tournament, but he flashed the kind of scoring burst that can change the mood around a prospect quickly and give the front office a clearer sense of what it has.
For a team with bigger questions hanging around the roster and its future, every encouraging Summer League performance gets magnified a little more. Waglers rise comes as the Leonard trade to Toronto remains on hold amid the NBA investigation tied to Leonards deal with Aspiration, while the next Clippers schedule release is still a month away. In the meantime, the summer stage is offering the clearest glimpse yet of what might be coming next. [Read more 🡒]
Keaton Wagler Just Gave Clippers Fans A Very Different First Impression
Keaton Waglers summer league debut did not offer much reason for Clippers fans to linger on first impressions, but his second outing looked far more like the kind of response teams hope to see from a young player. Against the Utah Jazz, he settled in after a rough opening stretch and helped push Los Angeles to a comfortable win, showing a level of poise and resilience that was missing the first time around.
Wagler finished with 23 points, four assists and a steal, and the bigger takeaway was how quickly he turned the game in the Clippers favor once he found his rhythm. The challenge now is whether he can carry that momentum into the next test, with game three against the Los Angeles Lakers offering a much sharper measuring stick for how real this bounce-back might be. [Read more 🡒]