Report: Kawhi Leonard trade to Raptors remains ‘on track’ after Clippers punishment
· Yahoo Sports
The Los Angeles Clippers might be destined for NBA purgatory once their historic punishment for the Kawhi Leonard endorsement scandal begins to strip them of valuable roster-building assets.
Leonard, meanwhile, appears poised to escape the situation largely unscathed.
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An agreed-upon trade to send Leonard from the Clippers to the Toronto Raptors remains “on track to be completed” now that the NBA’s investigation is complete, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
“I’m told both teams did communicate, last night, an intention to move forward,” Charania said Thursday on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
On Wednesday, the NBA announced it was stripping the Clippers of five first-round draft picks (2029-33) and fining them $30 million for violating the league’s salary cap circumvention rules, having found the team funneled money to Leonard through four endorsement deals, including one with Aspiration Partners.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was suspended for a year for “knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities,” the NBA said after completing a probe that it had opened last year following a report on “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast.
Leonard was ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution, but he was not suspended, nor was his contract voided.
And, soon, he is reportedly expected to be traded to the Raptors, who had agreed during the investigation to acquire the 35-year-old star for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and a haul of picks, including 2031 and 2033 first-rounders. The trade could not go through until the investigation concluded.
That’s why ESPN insider Brian Windhorst described Leonard as an “unmitigated winner.”
“He collected tens of millions of dollars in endorsement deals which are not permitted by the NBA, and he was fined $700,000 in restitution,” Windhorst said on “Get Up” on Thursday. “That’s the greatest investment you could ever make. It’s better than a Ponzi scheme that the Aspiration guy was running, I’ll tell you that.”
Leonard, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, led the Raptors to a championship in 2019 during a previous, one-year stint with Toronto.
“He’s very likely going to get traded to Toronto, where … he’s going to get a contract extension worth tens of millions,” Windhorst continued. “He’s going to profit from this enormously. And my guess is, on opening night, the Toronto Raptors fans will cheer him because he won them a championship [in 2019]. He can’t get on the plane to Toronto fast enough.”
A seven-time All-Star, Leonard averaged 27.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season.
Should the trade go through, Leonard would become the headliner on a contending Raptors team that finished as the Eastern Conference’s No. 5 seed last season and employs building blocks including Scottie Barnes, R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
The Clippers, meanwhile, would pair Ingram with point guard Darius Garland and No. 5 pick Keaton Wagler in a likely rebuild, with their draft assets set to start disappearing in 2029.