The Toronto Raptors are still waiting to get back the player who led them to their first-ever NBA championship.
It has been a full week since the NBA came down on the Los Angeles Clippers with historic penalties, docking five first round picks from the team and levying suspensions for its owner and general manager.
Leonard, meanwhile, was slapped with a $700,000 fine after the league ruled on the investigation. But that appears to be good news for the Raptors, who can feel confident that Leonard will avoid suspension and come back to Toronto ready to play to start the 2026-27 season.
Kawhi Leonard Sends Message as Raptors Stay Waiting
Calm as he often appears, even being at the center of the biggest team punishment in NBA history hasn’t seemed to faze Leonard.
In a video that has surfaced on social media, Leonard responded “I hope so” to a fan who asked, “You are coming to Toronto, right? Please tell me you’re coming to Toronto.” Leonard then said, “We gonna win.”
Winning is all Leonard and the Raptors have known together, with Leonard’s only season in Toronto ending in a championship.
Arriving in a late offseason trade from the San Antonio Spurs in 2018, Leonard assembled one of the best seasons of his then eight-year career, captaining the Raptors to a 58-win regular season and a memorable march to the 2019 NBA title. In the championship round against the Golden State Warriors, Leonard registered 28.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, collecting his second Finals MVP award.
The Hold Up On the Trade
Many Raptors fans are itching to see Leonard back in Canada, but the proposed trade between Toronto and L.A. remains frozen.
According to The Athletic, the hold up is from the Clippers side.
“Per league sources, the Raptors, Leonard’s camp and the camps of other prominent players in the trade remain very confident it will go through soon. Leonard, it should be noted, is known to be with his Raptors teammates (in an unofficial capacity) on a retreat of sorts in Miami this week, but according to multiple league sources, the Clippers have indicated the impact of the league’s discipline on their front-office structure is the reason for the delay.”
The Clippers, of course, have plenty to sift through in the wake of the ruling the NBA made last week.
“The Clippers shall forfeit five first-round draft picks, one in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts,” ESPN’s Shams Charania reported. “Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities, for approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules.”
The Clippers, already reportedly angered by the results of the investigation, are now dealing with disarray in the front office with training camp quickly approaching.
The Raptors, meanwhile, are sitting still and hoping the trade gets completed as soon as possible.
Raptors Get Strong 6-Word Message From Kawhi Leonard Amid Stalled Trade