The Philadelphia 76ers may have come out of the offseason with Jaylen Brown, but there’s another deal they never made that suddenly looks a lot cleaner: the Kawhi Leonard chase.
Leonard was one of the stars Philadelphia had been tied to before the Brown move came together. Instead, he wound up being traded by the Clippers to the Raptors, and that transaction is already carrying far more baggage than anyone would want. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the blockbuster swap will not be completed on Toronto’s side until the NBA finishes its conduct investigation into the Clippers.
That’s where the warning lights start flashing. The issue under review involves possible salary cap circumventions, and if penalties come down, Toronto could be the team left to absorb them. That’s the kind of uncertainty Philadelphia had no business inviting into the room.
The Sixers have championship expectations. The Raptors, even with Leonard back, are still in a more unsettled place.
That difference matters when you’re talking about a move this delicate. Leonard turned in a huge season, nearly dragging the Clippers into the playoffs after they opened the year 6-21, but even that kind of production doesn’t erase the risk attached to his situation.
The unknown is the real problem. Nobody knows what the league might decide, and the range of possible punishment - including a long suspension - makes the whole idea far too shaky for a team trying to build a serious contender.
That’s why Philadelphia backing away from the Leonard pursuit looks smart now. Daryl Morey and his group had shown strong interest in getting a deal done, but the new-look front office led by Mike Gansey appears to have moved in a different direction. The result is a much safer outcome with Brown, and a lot less drama.
Leonard would have been a major addition. But for a team that can’t afford to gamble on uncertainty, especially uncertainty this messy, the Sixers ended up in the better place.
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Embiid has not spoken publicly about the trade, but the buzz around the team is that he is enthusiastic about the addition and already looking ahead to the coming season. Health will still shape how far this group can go, and the front office may not be done yet, with the possibility of another major move hanging over the roster as the 76ers try to turn a big summer into something even bigger. [Read more 🡒]