The Raptors are still waiting on the Kawhi Leonard situation, but the rest of the Eastern Conference keeps moving. Atlanta just added another layer to the problem.
By trading for Lu Dort, the Hawks picked up defensive toughness and championship experience, and that move may be only the beginning. According to recent intel from The Stein Line, Atlanta now has the kind of salary pieces that could help it chase another star down the road.
“Multiple rival team executives have noted this week that the Hawks, after adding Dort, are flush with the sort of mid-tier salaries that could be easily packaged with draft capital to make a run at a star who becomes available via trade,” Marc Stein and Jake Fischer wrote.
That matters because the Hawks already finished last season looking like a team on the rise. They found their rhythm in the second half, ended up sixth in the Eastern Conference standings, and beat the Knicks twice in three games on the way to a championship.
With Dort in the mix, they should be even more annoying on defense this season. If they land another star either by the next trade deadline or in the offseason before the 2027-28 season, they could become a serious obstacle for Toronto even if Leonard does come back.
Atlanta is hardly the only Eastern Conference team that has made life harder for the Raptors this summer. Toronto’s push for Leonard is one of the biggest moves of the offseason, but the Heat and 76ers answered with major swings of their own. Miami brought in Giannis Antetokounmpo, while Philadelphia effectively swapped out 36-year-old Paul George for Jaylen Brown, who played like an MVP candidate last season.
There’s still more star movement that could shake out. The 76ers and Heat are also among the teams said to still be in the mix for LeBron James, along with the Cavaliers. That leaves those clubs in a similar waiting game to Toronto, though unlike the Raptors, both Miami and Philadelphia have already made franchise-altering additions this summer.
And some teams in the East don’t even need a splashy trade to get better. The Pacers are set to get Tyrese Haliburton back after the injury he suffered in the 2025 NBA Finals, and the Celtics may have lost Brown but should have Jayson Tatum for a full season.
The conference is filling up fast, and the Raptors’ best path to standing out is still the same one they’ve been chasing: getting Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto.
In Other News...
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A quiet stretch around the NBA has started to feel less like the usual summer lull and more like a league waiting on a few big names to move first. Uncertainty around LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard is slowing trade chatter and free-agent decisions across the board, with teams reluctant to lock in plans while two of the sports most influential situations remain unsettled.
For the Clippers, that caution has real roster implications. They remain interested in bringing back restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin, but Leonards ongoing Aspiration investigation has added another layer of hesitation to their offseason approach, leaving one of the leagues most watched front offices in a holding pattern as other decisions around the league wait for clarity. [Read more 🡒]
What Lu Dorts Market Just Revealed About The Hawks Move
The Raptors search for a defensive-minded wing has been one of the quieter but more revealing themes of their offseason, and Lu Dorts market only sharpened that picture. Toronto was reportedly among the teams that checked in before he was moved, a sign that the front office is still looking for the kind of tough, versatile perimeter stopper it once chased so aggressively in its pursuit of Kawhi Leonard.
Dorts expiring contract made him an especially interesting fit, but also a complicated one for a team trying to keep its books clean. Adding that kind of money would have pushed Toronto over the first apron, a line it has been careful not to cross, which helps explain why the Raptors may have to keep scanning for alternatives such as Josh Green later in the offseason. [Read more 🡒]