The Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday traded hometown superstar Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, where he won a championship in 2019.
ESPN’s “NBA Insider” Shams Charania reported that in return, the Clippers received two-time All-Star Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, two second-round picks, and one first-round pick swap.
“I’m told Kawhi Leonard views this as an opportunity to retire in Toronto,” Charania said.
Leonard was traded to Toronto once before, in 2018, after disputes with the San Antonio Spurs, who drafted him in 2011 and where Leonard won his first championship in 2014.
The two-time Finals MVP led Toronto to its first and only championship in the 2018-19 season, defeating the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the finals and scoring the third most points ever by a single player in a playoff run, according to StatMuse data.
Tuesday’s deal pairs Leonard in the frontcourt with two-time All-Star Scottie Barnes. Toronto lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games in the first round of the 2026 playoffs.
Despite just turning 35 a few days ago, Leonard is coming off one of his best individual seasons, where he averaged approximately 28 points, six rebounds, and two steals, even though the Clippers missed the playoffs.
Leonard originally left Toronto after only one season there in 2019 to sign with the Clippers despite much effort from Raptors fans and the organization to convince him to stay.
His homecoming in Los Angeles, where he grew up and near where he attended college at San Diego State University, was met with high expectations, as the Clippers also traded for nine-time All-Star Paul George that same offseason.
The team lost to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 2020 “bubble playoffs,” and had its best run the following year, losing to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals, but Leonard got injured in the prior round and couldn’t play against Phoenix.
Injuries were a major theme throughout Leonard’s Clippers tenure, being hampered or unavailable during multiple playoff series.
After already trading George to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2024, Tuesday’s trade marks the end of the Kawhi Leonard era for the Clippers as the team invests in its future through acquiring the younger Ingram, Dick, and draft capital.
In September 2025, the NBA began investigating to see whether the Clippers and Leonard violated the league’s salary cap rules, giving Leonard additional money through a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser, a now-bankrupt California-based sustainability services company.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer made a $50 million investment in the company, which announced a $300 million partnership with the Clippers in September 2021, around one month after Leonard signed a four-year, $176 million extension with the organization.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
