Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto, and the Raptors are wasting no time slotting him into the center of the conversation.
The long-awaited move from the LA Clippers is now complete, with Leonard officially headed to the Raptors after a delay tied to the investigation into the Clippers. The team was also hit with a severe punishment as part of that process.
The deal sends Leonard to Toronto, while the Clippers receive Gradey Dick, Brandon Ingram, first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, second-round picks in 2030 and 2033, and a first-round pick swap in 2027.
For Toronto, the fit is immediate. Leonard is eligible to start the season and is not suspended, giving the Raptors a new look at the top of the lineup. The projected starting five now features Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Leonard, Scottie Barnes, and Jakob Poeltl.
That’s a group with plenty of scoring punch. Barrett averaged 19.3 points per game last season, Barnes put up 18.1, and Leonard comes in after averaging 27.9 points per game for the Clippers. That marks a clear upgrade over Ingram’s 21.5 points per game.
Leonard also brings a more stable presence than the Raptors had on the other side of the deal. He started 65 regular season games last season, one of just two times he’s gone beyond 60 for the Clippers.
Toronto finished fifth in the Eastern Conference last season, and now it gets a familiar face wearing a familiar number. Leonard has been assigned No. 2, the jersey Jonathan Mogbo wore last season. It’s the same number Leonard wore during his previous run in Toronto, the one that ended with a championship in 2019.
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That leaves the front office with a decision to make before Broome ever gets a real foothold in camp. Unless another trade clears the way, he is one of the names being considered as a possible cut, with Cam Christie also in that mix as the Clippers work to trim the standard-contract count. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Punishment Fight Just Became All About Their Draft Future
The NBAs punishment package for the Clippers has already changed the conversation around this offseason, and not just because of the fines and suspensions attached to the salary-cap circumvention case. Losing five first-round picks is the kind of penalty that reaches far beyond one front office decision, putting the franchises long-term team-building strategy under a spotlight and forcing everyone around it to think in terms of years, not weeks.
Steve Ballmer first sounded ready to test the league in court, but his latest message on social media marked a clear turn toward acceptance and moving on. That leaves the Clippers in a familiar kind of waiting game, one that has been seen before around the league, including in Minnesota, where draft picks were later returned after the team chose to take its punishment rather than drag the fight through the legal system. [Read more 🡒]
Why Kawhi Leonard Avoided The NBA's Harshest Clippers Punishment
Kawhi Leonards name is now tied to one of the leagues most significant cap-circumvention cases, but the punishment handed down to him stopped well short of what the Clippers absorbed. Leonard was fined $700,000, while Los Angeles took the bigger hit, losing five draft picks as the NBA moved to address the broader conduct at the center of the case.
The reason Leonard avoided the harshest end of the leagues discipline comes down to how much proof the NBA needed before it could go further. According to Shams Charania, collective bargaining agreement rules and union constraints meant the league needed strong evidence before it could void Leonards contract or suspend him, and by the time the punishments were announced, he had already been traded to the Toronto Raptors. [Read more 🡒]