Kawhi Leonard is officially back in Toronto, and the Raptors just made a massive bet on the kind of player who can tilt the league when he’s right.
The long-awaited deal with the Clippers was completed on Monday, bringing Leonard back to the team he helped carry to the 2019 NBA Finals title. Toronto had to pay a steep price to get him the first time around, sending Los Angeles a package that included two unprotected first-round picks, and the bill is only going to get heavier once the extension talks arrive.
According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line on Monday, it’s a "safe bet" that the wait for that extension will be much shorter than the delay it took to finish the trade. Leonard is eligible for a two-year extension worth $126 million, and he’s already set to make $50.3 million this season. For a 35-year-old with his injury history, that is a serious commitment.
But the Raptors clearly decided the upside was worth the risk. Toronto wanted to stay in step with the rest of the Eastern Conference, especially the Knicks, who have become the league’s gold standard. Leon Rose helped drag New York out of the NBA basement after taking over as team president in March 2020, turning the franchise from a running joke into champions.
That’s the standard Toronto is chasing. The Raptors are trying to keep the league’s recent parity streak alive, with eight different champions over the last eight years. They believe Leonard gives them a real chance to recreate the magic of 2019, when he was the centerpiece of their title run against the Warriors.
Of course, this all comes back to health. Leonard gives Toronto a much better shot at making another deep run, but how far the Raptors can go will depend on whether he stays on the floor. The fact that his availability concerns didn’t stop Toronto from making the move says plenty about how much faith they have in him.
New York still has a real chance to do something that hasn’t been done since Golden State in 2018 and repeat as champions, but the road has only gotten tougher. Toronto’s gamble on Leonard is the latest sign of that. It might not pay off the way the Raptors want, but that’s a problem they’re willing to let their future selves handle.
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