Kawhi Leonard returns to Toronto in trade with Clippers

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Coming back to the franchise where he won his second NBA championship title is indeed a full-circle moment for Kawhi Leonard.

In a shocking sequence of NBA offseason events, the Los Angeles Clippers traded the two-time NBA champion to the Toronto Raptors on July 1, 2026, in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and five draft picks.

The Raptors had to give up their first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, second-round picks in 2030 and 2033, and a 2027 first-round pick swap to finalize the deal.

For the Clippers, the trade creates more cap flexibility and signals a clear move away from Leonard as their primary star.

This is also a major rebuild for the franchise after the Leonard investment didn’t pay off.

For seven seasons, the Clippers failed to reach the NBA Finals and only made the Western Conference finals once, in 2021.

Leonard is set for a homecoming in Toronto, where he led the Raptors to the 2018-19 NBA championship, the franchise’s lone Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The seven-time All-Star’s one-year campaign with the Raptors was widely recognized as one of the most iconic runs in league history, helping Toronto end a 24-year title drought since joining the NBA in 1995 as an expansion team.

Leonard’s arduous 2019 path to the pedestal wasn’t a fluke, as the Raptors defeated the battle-tested Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals and the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks in the conference finals.

Despite entering the NBA Finals as an underdog against the star-studded Golden State Warriors, Leonard helped the Raptors take down the Western Conference kings in six games, averaging 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.0 steals en route to the Finals MVP award.

Now healthy and ready to run it back, Leonard is expected to lead the Toronto squad composed of young guns and veterans while forming a dangerous trio with Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett.

In the 2025-26 season, Toronto secured the fifth seed in the East, finishing the regular season with an impressive 46-36 win-loss record.

Although the Raptors exited the playoffs in the first round, they still ended the season on a high note after pushing the heavily favored Cleveland Cavaliers to a do-or-die Game 7.

Can Leonard weave his 2019 magic and lead Toronto to another electric NBA campaign?