The 76ers may have stumbled into one of the cleanest escapes of the offseason without ever making a move.
Last season, there were reports that Philly was trying to work out a deal for Kawhi Leonard. That idea never turned into anything real this summer, and that choice suddenly looks a lot smarter now that Leonard’s situation has turned into a mess. Instead of getting pulled into the chaos, the 76ers stayed out of it - and that might end up being the biggest win of all.
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the Raptors, who had already agreed to a trade for Leonard with the Clippers, are now refusing to finish the deal because they do not want to take on the risk of possible NBA penalties tied to the league’s investigation into Leonard’s contract with LA.
There is still a chance the trade gets voided, and if that happens, Toronto is the team left dealing with the fallout. The Raptors had already been operating as if the two-time Finals MVP would be in place, so this latest development strips away the foundation that was supposed to support their offseason moves.
For Philadelphia, the important part is what did not happen. The team never doubled down on its earlier interest in Leonard, and the change at the top from Daryl Morey helped.
Instead of chasing that deal, the 76ers ended up in a better spot by landing Jaylen Brown and winning the LeBron James bidding war. Those moves would not have been possible if Philly had gone through with a Leonard trade.
At the time, the rumored pursuit of Leonard sounded far-fetched, but there was a real basketball case for it. Leonard was carrying the Clippers through a brutal stretch, helping them nearly reach the playoffs after a 6-21 start, and Los Angeles was beginning to warm to the idea of moving on from the Kawhi era.
In the end, though, the 76ers never got the chance to act on that interest. That left them building a stronger group for next season while someone else deals with the fallout around Leonard.
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