The fun guy is headed back north

Another trade blog? Another trade blog! Kawhi Leonard is headed back to The Six as the Toronto Raptors acquired Leonard for the 2nd time. This time the Raptors sent Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, 2 first round picks (2031 and 2033 unprotected), a 2027 pick swap (that will likely convey since the Clippers swapped their pick with OKC) and 2 second round picks to the Clippers for Leonard. 7 years after Leonard departed Toronto to go home to Los Angeles after delivering a title to the Raptors, Leonard is headed back north of the border.

The Raptors were a good team last year that provided a more difficult challenge to the Cavaliers than I thought they would, taking Cleveland to 7 games. However, that team had a ceiling. Yes, Immanuel Quickley missed their first round series but they were not a serious contender in the Eastern Conference. Kawhi Leonard made All-NBA 2nd team last year and had the best regular season of his career as he pulled the Clippers out from a 6-21 start to finish 42-40. Adding him to Scottie Barnes instantly creates one of the best duos in the league. Toronto’s best lineup will likely be Quickley, RJ Barrett, Leonard, Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles. That is a small group but I think those wings have enough size to pull it off. They can switch everything (outside of Quickley who should be headed to the Jalen Brunson university of hedging and getting out of the play) and are very athletic. Jakob Poeltl as their starting center worries me. He didn’t have a great season last year and Toronto is going to need better play from him but this team should be very good next season and have a real chance to win the Eastern Conference.

The players the Raptors gave up aren’t needle movers in any which way. Brandon Ingram is the big name and he can certainly score the ball, he averaged 21.5 points and was an All-Star in his lone season as a Raptor. However, he was not good in the first round, averaging 12.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 33% from the field and committing 2 turnovers per game, he also missed the last 2 games of the series. He has $40 million owed to him this season with a $41.9 player option in 2027-28. Leonard is such a big upgrade from Ingram and that is why Toronto had to pay the price they did. Gradey Dick, meanwhile, is a salary filler. He was the 13th pick of the 2023 NBA Draft but hasn’t panned out in the league. The Raptors just were not that good in the former iteration of their team, adding Leonard raises their ceiling in a major way. Yes, they paid a heavy price of draft assets but I don’t think the Raptors overpaid, this is a pretty good trade for them.

The Kawhi Leonard era with the Clippers is over after 7 years and it ends the same day the LeBron James era ended with the Lakers. It was a disappointing era for the Clippers, one that had so much hope and promise when they paired Kawhi with Paul George in 2019. I’ll go to my grave saying that it remains the right thing for the Clippers to do and was worth their while but it was a failure.

This is a good return for the Clippers and they have done very well as they have torn down their roster with the James Harden, Ivica Zubac and now Leonard deals. I talked about the players they got and neither are big time additions, this deal is about the picks. The Clippers owe their 2028 pick to the Sixers and 2027 and 2029 swaps are headed out the door as well. They have needed to add picks and did just that with this deal and the Zubac deal. The 2027 swap should see them move up a few slots but the main prizes are the 2031 and 2033 picks, both of which are unprotected. The Clippers are entering a rebuild of sorts and adding more picks to their war chest is something they should be doing, especially if they were never going to sign Kawhi. No, this isn’t the massive haul they gave up to pair up Kawhi and PG back in 2019 and no, this isn’t a massive return. Yet, this is a good return and another win for Lawrence Frank and the Clippers front office.

Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto and this time he is here to stay as he intends to sign a contract extension with the Raptors. The last time Toronto made a Leonard deal it was very risky as they traded their best player for a guy everyone knew was leaving and it paid off as they won the championship. This time doesn’t have those kinds of stakes but this deal does put Toronto firmly in the inner circle of Eastern Conference contenders for next season.