TORONTO — Kawhi Leonard is about to start an NBA season in a Toronto Raptors uniform again, seven years after he delivered the franchise its only championship and then left for his hometown Los Angeles Clippers.
The Raptors made the reunion official in mid-September, sending forward Brandon Ingram, guard-forward Gradey Dick, a pair of unprotected 2031 and 2033 first-rounders, the right to swap 2027 first-round picks and two second-round picks to Los Angeles. The deal had been agreed to at the end of June but sat on hold while the league finished its salary-cap investigation of the Clippers. In early September the league chose not to suspend Leonard or cancel his deal, which cleared the way.
That probe found the Clippers had arranged outside endorsement money for Leonard in violation of the salary cap. The team lost five first-round picks and owner Steve Ballmer was suspended for a year, while Leonard was fined $700,000 under a side agreement between the league and the players union.
Leonard, now 35, then signed a two-year, $115 million extension with Toronto and has said he wants to finish his career there. He comes off a career-best 27.9 points per game across 65 games last season, his seventh straight year averaging 20 or more, along with a seventh-place finish in MVP voting and an All-NBA Second Team spot.
His first stint in Toronto lasted one season. The Raptors acquired him from San Antonio in July 2018 in a deal built around DeMar DeRozan, and he answered with a historic playoff run, including a buzzer-beater to win Game 7 against Philadelphia and a Finals MVP after Toronto beat Golden State in six games in June 2019. More than two million people turned out for the parade. Weeks later he signed with the Clippers.
Toronto has not won a playoff series since 2020 and endured three seasons of 30 or fewer wins before a breakout from 25-year-old Scottie Barnes lifted the team toward the middle of the pack last year. Pairing Barnes with a seven-time All-Star and two-time Finals MVP is the club bet on getting back into contention.
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