Kawhi Leonard’s winding trade saga is finally over, and the move that sent him back to Toronto now has official approval from both sides.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors have both signed off on the deal and are preparing for a trade call. Leonard is headed back to the Raptors, while the Clippers are getting Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-round picks.
The agreement closes the book on a process that dragged on for more than two months. The original trade framework was reached on June 30, but both teams held off on completing it while the NBA investigated the Clippers for alleged salary cap circumvention tied to Leonard. Commissioner Adam Silver later said the league had not ordered the transaction to be stopped, and once the investigation wrapped up, there was nothing left preventing the deal from being finalized.
Even after that, the Clippers still waited.
That pause fueled plenty of leaguewide chatter about whether Los Angeles had second thoughts or was unhappy with Leonard after the investigation. Marc Stein reported recently that Toronto was eager to finish the deal and that there was no league-level holdup. In the end, those concerns didn’t matter.
The Clippers moved forward after spending the past 13 days dealing with the NBA’s punishment and sorting out internal logistics. The penalties were severe: the Clippers lost five first-round picks, owner Steve Ballmer was fined $30 million and suspended for one year, Lawrence Frank received a six-month suspension without pay, Gillian Zucker was suspended for one year without pay, and Leonard was fined $700,000.
For Toronto, the return of Leonard is a major reunion. He led the Raptors to their first title in 2019 before leaving for the Clippers that summer.
Now he comes back after seven years, coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 27.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals in 65 games. He is entering the final year of a contract worth approximately $50 million and is expected to sign an extension with the Raptors.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, gets a sizable haul for a player it apparently was not prepared to extend or even keep after the investigation. Ingram’s 21.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season headline the return, while Dick adds a young piece to the mix. The two unprotected first-round picks are the biggest part of the package, especially with the Clippers having already lost five of their own selections.
After all the delays, investigations, penalties and speculation, the uncertainty is gone. Leonard is going back to Toronto, and one of the NBA’s most drawn-out offseason stories is finally done.
In Other News...
Kawhi Leonard Delay Is Creating A Raptors Problem At The Worst Time
The NBA has finished its investigation into the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard, but the paperwork on the move to Toronto still has not been completed, leaving the Raptors in an awkward holding pattern as they head toward Media Day and training camp. Leonard has already been practicing with Raptors players, which only adds to the oddness of the situation, since he remains officially a Clipper until the deal is finalized.
For Toronto, the timing could hardly be worse. If the trade is still unresolved when camp opens, Leonard would have to report to Clippers camp instead of joining the Raptors in full, creating a problem for a team trying to build chemistry and set its tone for the season. [Read more 🡒]