The LA Clippers and Toronto Raptors are engaged in serious trade discussions involving Kawhi Leonard, a development that would send the two-time Finals MVP back to the franchise where he won his most celebrated championship seven years ago, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
Leonard’s representatives informed other teams that he would be open to signing an extension with Toronto if the Clippers were unwilling to make a long-term commitment to him this offseason. The Clippers, despite public statements expressing a desire to keep Leonard, made no such commitment. He enters the final year of his contract at $50.3 million for the 2026-27 season. Leonard turns 35 on Monday.
A career year that was not enough to secure his future
The irony of the situation is the quality of the season Leonard produced before the trade talks emerged. He averaged 27.9 points per game and appeared in 65 regular-season games, only the second time in seven seasons with the Clippers that he reached 60 or more appearances in a single year. He finished seventh in MVP voting and earned All-NBA second-team honors for the fourth time as a Clipper.
Despite that production, the Clippers went 42-40 and lost in the play-in tournament, failing to advance to the main playoff bracket. The combination of a productive individual performance and a disappointing team outcome appears to have created the conditions for the franchise to step back from the commitment its president had publicly stated just months ago when he said the plan was to win with Leonard.
The Clippers’ complicated situation
The trade would represent a reversal for a franchise that entered the offseason with seemingly aligned intentions around building its future around Leonard. Beyond the on-court calculus, the Clippers are currently under NBA investigation over whether they circumvented league salary rules through a financial arrangement connected to a corporate endorsement deal that involved Leonard, the team, and a company in which the team’s owner had invested.
The investigation, conducted by an independent law firm, has been ongoing long enough that the NBA commissioner called for it to be concluded soon. Leonard and his business adviser have participated in interviews as part of the inquiry. The existence of the investigation adds an unusual dimension to any major transaction involving Leonard while it remains unresolved.
What the return would mean for Toronto
For the Raptors, acquiring Leonard would be an attempt to reclaim relevance in the Eastern Conference’s upper tier. Since Leonard departed as a free agent after winning the 2019 championship, Toronto has won just one playoff series, and last season ended with a first-round exit in seven games against a conference rival.
his one season in Toronto remains one of the franchise’s defining moments. He averaged 28.5 points in the Finals against Golden State and was named MVP of the series, delivering the city its first and only NBA championship. The attachment between Leonard and that franchise, however brief his tenure was, gives the potential trade a sentimental and competitive weight that straightforward transactions rarely carry.
If a deal is completed, Leonard would immediately become eligible to sign an extension with his new team valued at up to $123.7 million over two years, giving both sides the opportunity to build a longer-term arrangement rather than simply completing a one-year stop.
The Raptors would receive one of the best two-way players of his generation. Leonard would return to the city and franchise where his career reached its highest point. Whether the deal gets done will depend on what the Raptors are willing to offer and whether it clears the league’s review process without complication from the ongoing investigation.
