The Kawhi Leonard trade is still sitting in limbo, even though all signs continue to point toward Toronto.
Last Wednesday, right after the NBA released the findings of its cap circumvention investigation into the Clippers, ESPN’s Shams Charania said the deal sending Leonard to the Raptors would likely be wrapped up within “ the next couple of days.” That made sense at the time: the teams had already reached an agreement on the blockbuster on June 30, and once the league’s probe landed, Leonard’s punishment was reduced to a $700K fine - nothing that would impact Toronto’s ability to move ahead.
And yet, six days later, the trade still hasn’t been officially announced.
One major reason for the delay, according to sources cited by Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line, is that the Clippers are still sorting out their new front office setup after owner Steve Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank were suspended for one year and six months, respectively. The expectation has been that general manager Trent Redden will take over basketball operations while Frank is out, but the Clippers also need to appoint a new interim governor in Ballmer’s place. Both of those figures would need to formally approve the deal before it can be finalized.
There’s also been some chatter that Toronto could try to revisit the terms now that the leverage has shifted. The Clippers were hit by the NBA with the loss of five future first-round picks for violating cap circumvention rules, and with that punishment hanging over them, they may be even more desperate to secure the two first-rounders coming from the Raptors. That has led to speculation that Toronto might push to adjust the two second-rounders or the 2027 pick swap included in the agreement.
But ESPN’s Brian Windhorst poured cold water on that idea during Tuesday’s Hoop Collective podcast.
“In talking to people, I think that trade is going to go through, and I think it’s going to go through as is,” Windhorst said. “I was scolded for implying - or maybe not implying, but wondering whether - the terms could get altered.
… People say in the NBA, your word is important. So, they’ve agreed on this trade and I think they’re going to go through with it as constructed.”
Leonard himself also seemed to treat the move as basically finished in a statement released last Wednesday through agent Harrison Gaines and the NBPA.
“As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate,” Leonard said in that statement.
The original framework of the deal, reached in June, would send Leonard to Toronto in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, second-round picks in 2030 and 2033, and the right to swap the least favorable of the Clippers, Nuggets’, and Thunder’s 2027 first-round picks for Toronto’s 2027 first-rounder.
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