The NBA’s ruling on the Kawhi Leonard case clears the path for the Toronto Raptors, and it does so with a heavy hand aimed squarely at the Los Angeles Clippers.
Per Shams Charania, the Clippers were hit with five future first-round pick forfeitures between the 2029 and 2033 seasons, a $30 million fine for owner Steve Ballmer, and suspensions for several top team executives. Ballmer and Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker were each suspended for one year, while President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank received a six-month suspension.
For Toronto, the biggest takeaway is simple: Leonard will not be suspended, and his contract will not be voided. That leaves the agreed-upon trade between the Raptors and Clippers on track to finally go through, which means Leonard’s return to Canada should become official after months of uncertainty.
Leonard also has to repay $700,000 in restitution tied to improper benefits the Clippers provided to “Uncle” Dennis Robertson, his longtime business partner. Robertson, meanwhile, has been banned from doing business with the NBA or anyone connected to the league for at least five years.
The league’s punishment is severe, but it lands where the source says the blame belonged: on the Clippers, not Leonard. Salary cap circumvention was treated as a Los Angeles problem, and the penalties gutted the kind of premium draft capital that could have helped the Clippers improve in the short term. They will still receive picks once the Kawhi trade is completed.
That deal is expected to send Leonard back to Toronto in a package built around All-Star forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick, and a group of draft picks. The Raptors will send their first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, while the Clippers get the right to swap picks in 2027. Toronto is also including two additional second-round picks.
From the Raptors’ perspective, this looks like the cleanest possible outcome. Leonard avoids anything that would affect his availability when the season begins, and the league has put the burden where Toronto would have wanted it all along. Once the paperwork is finished, Leonard’s return to the Raptors should be official.
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Kyle Lowrys retirement has only sharpened the sense that those moves belong in a different category now, the kind that define a franchise for years. And even as the Raptors look back on the path that led to their title era, one of the central questions hanging over the teams past remains linked to a familiar name, with Kawhi Leonards contract situation still part of the conversation whenever Torontos offseason history is brought up. [Read more 🡒]