Kawhi Leonard’s second chapter with the Toronto Raptors could become much longer than a reunion tour.
Leonard and Toronto have held advanced discussions on a contract extension and are nearing an agreement, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line. Leonard is eligible to sign for as much as two years and $126 million, which would extend his stay beyond his current deal.
The timing is notable because Leonard’s return to Toronto was only recently cleared after one of the biggest salary-cap scandals in recent NBA history.
Cap Circumvention Saga Delayed Kawhi Leonard’s Return
The NBA announced Sept. 2 that the Clippers and Leonard violated league salary-cap circumvention rules after an independent investigation by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The league said the Clippers helped facilitate off-court income opportunities for Leonard with companies doing business with the franchise, paid personal expenses on his behalf and failed to report improper solicitations made through his former business manager, Dennis Robertson.
The penalties were severe.
Los Angeles was fined $30 million, stripped of five first-round picks from 2029 through 2033 and placed under a five-year compliance program. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was suspended for one year, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank for six months and business operations president Gillian Zucker for one year.
Leonard himself was ordered to pay the league $700,000, while Robertson was banned from conducting NBA-related business for five years. Leonard was not suspended, and his contract was not voided.
The investigation had held up Leonard’s move back to Toronto after the Raptors and Clippers agreed to a trade earlier in the offseason. Once the league completed its review and issued final penalties and Clippers principal owner Steve Ballmer accepted the decision, the path was cleared for the reunion.
Now Toronto appears prepared to double down.
Raptors Could Lock In Leonard Through 2029
Leonard, 35, is coming off another elite season and remains one of the league’s most dangerous two-way wings when healthy.
Toronto’s willingness to discuss a two-year extension worth up to $126 million shows that the Raptors did not bring Leonard back simply for a one-season nostalgia run.
The franchise is betting on a longer championship window built around Leonard and Scottie Barnes.
That is significant considering everything surrounding Leonard’s return.
The Raptors already paid a substantial trade price to reacquire the two-time Finals MVP. They also waited through the Clippers’ cap-circumvention investigation before the deal could be finalized.
An extension would make that commitment even more explicit.
Leonard Returns to Where He Became a Legend
Leonard’s connection to Toronto remains unique.
He spent only one season with the Raptors the first time around, but that season ended with the franchise’s first NBA championship. Leonard won Finals MVP in 2019 before leaving for Los Angeles weeks later.
Seven years later, he is back — this time after a messy exit from the Clippers that included one of the harshest cap-circumvention punishments the league has handed down in decades.
The scandal will follow Leonard into this next chapter.
But Toronto’s extension talks make one thing clear: the Raptors appear far more interested in what Leonard can still do on the floor than in relitigating what happened in Los Angeles.
And if the two sides finalize a deal near the maximum available amount, Leonard’s return will no longer feel temporary.
It will look like Toronto is building around him again.
Raptors Nearing Massive Deal With Former Finals MVP After NBA Scandal