Seven years after walking away from the franchise he turned into champions, Kawhi Leonard is heading back north 👀
The Kawhi era in Los Angeles will forever be defined by two words: What if?
When he was healthy, he was an absolute cyborg.
He gave the Clippers their first-ever Western Conference Finals berth in 2021, earned four All-NBA nods, and just came off a vintage 2025–26 season where he dropped a career-high 27.9 points per game 🙌
But the championship parade the city was promised never arrived, repeatedly derailed by brutal postseason injury luck.
With LA pivoting to a new era, the front office finally pulled the trigger.
Now, he returns to the place where he is immortalized.
Raptors fans don't need a reminder of what happened in 2019.
They remember the four bounces against Philly.
They remember the absolute destruction of the Bucks and Warriors.
They remember Kawhi averaging 30.5 points per game on one leg to bring Larry O'Brien across the border for the first time in history 🏆
The Fun Guy is back in Canada 🇨🇦
Kawhi Leonard is officially headed back to Toronto‼️🤯
According to Shams Charania, the trade between the Raptors and Clippers has been “agreed to”, involving multiple first and second round picks.
Kawhi wanted Toronto.
According to @ShamsCharania, the Pistons and Timberwolves inquired about a trade for Leonard, only to be rebuffed by the two-time Finals MVP. A reunion with the Raptors was always the preferred outside destination.
The Pistons and Timberwolves attempted to trade for Kawhi Leonard over the past few weeks, but they were told he wasn’t interested, per @ShamsCharania.
The Raptors were the only place Kawhi was open to playing outside of Los Angeles.
New look Toronto Raptors:
Immanuel Quickley
RJ Barrett
Kawhi Leonard
Scottie Barnes
Jakob Poeltl
Jamal Shead
Ja’Kobe Walter
Allen Graves
Collin Murray-Boyles
One of the deepest teams in the NBA