The Los Angeles Clippers are finally getting a little relief from the Kawhi Leonard mess, and it comes in the form of the trade they’ve been waiting on for months.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Thursday that the deal is now expected to move forward soon. As Charania put it, "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."
That matters for the Clippers because the trade had been sitting on ice while Toronto waited for the investigation to wrap up. With that process complete, there’s no longer a reason to hold things up. Leonard also isn’t facing a suspension, so the Raptors do not have to worry about losing him for any stretch tied to the scandal.
The return Toronto agreed to send to Los Angeles is substantial: Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks.
And those picks carry even more weight now than they did when the deal was first agreed to. The NBA already docked the Clippers five first-round picks - 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 - so the unprotected selections from Toronto could be especially valuable as Los Angeles tries to dig out of the hole it created.
There’s also some flexibility built into the package. Ingram is entering the last guaranteed season of his current contract, though the source notes it would be hard to picture him passing on his $41.9 million player option in 2027-28.
That gives the Clippers a possible future trade chip if they choose to move him later. Dick, the No. 13 pick in 2023, gives Los Angeles a younger player to assess during a rough stretch.
The players involved have been acting like the move was already finished, and now the official end is close. For the Clippers, that at least offers a little something back from a situation that has left the fan base frustrated with Leonard and the organization.
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