Kawhi Leonard is about to begin his second run with the Toronto Raptors, and it appears to come with a good reason.
According to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, Leonard had other potential suitors who wanted to trade for him, but he ultimately chose the Toronto Raptors because of his legacy.
“There were teams — Detroit, Minnesota — others that had interest in trading for him, that wanted to trade for him, that wanted to give him an extension,” Charania said on TSN. “But he made a decision because he had one year left on his deal to essentially weed out where he wanted to play, where he wanted to be. And so this is a legacy play for Kawhi Leonard. There’s no doubt about it.”
On Monday, Leonard was officially traded by the Clippers to the Raptors in a deal that included Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks.
Originally, Leonard was supposed to be traded by the Clippers to the Raptors in July, but the deal was put on hold as the NBA investigated him, his uncle and former business partner Dennis Robertson, and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer — due to the team attempting to circumvent the NBA Salary Cap.
Two weeks ago, the NBA concluded its investigation and fined Leonard $700,000 while fining Ballmer $30 million and stripping the Clippers of five future first-round picks that will take place between 2029-2033.
On Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said, “The discipline is final,” after making his first public comments about the punishment.
With the Clippers left in despair, Leonard will be on to new beginnings by rejoining the Raptors, the same team he led to its first NBA Championship in franchise history, during the 2018-2019 season.
The Raptors knocked off the reigning back-to-back champions, the Golden State Warriors in six games, and Leonard was crowned the Finals MVP for the second time in his career after having a dominant series where he averaged 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1.2 steals.
The Raptors were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last year after losing in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It’s unknown what the offers were like from Detroit and Minnesota, but both teams are coming into the 2026 season as legitimate contenders to win the title this season.
The Timberwolves have been heavily active over the offseason, trading for LaMelo Ball and recently signing Jonathan Kuminga.
Detroit finished the regular season as the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 60-22 record but suffered the same fate as the Raptors and were eliminated in the second round by the Cavaliers.
The general assumption for Detroit is that they needed a star to lead them in the playoffs — a role Leonard is familiar with. But he ultimately chose to return to Toronto.
