Kawhi Leonard is headed back to the Toronto Raptors, after they struck a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers to reunite with the player who led their run to the 2019 NBA championship, a person with knowledge of the talks said Tuesday.
The Raptors are sending Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, two second-round picks and pick swap to the Clippers for Leonard, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not received the required league approval.
Leonard spent one season in Toronto, and that was the year the Raptors won their lone title. He turned 35 on Monday but is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Clippers in 65 games.
Leonard is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, a two-time NBA champion (also having won in 2014 with San Antonio) and is generally considered one of the game’s top defensive players.
The trade is the latest in what’s becoming a long line of huge deals getting made between clubs already this summer, one that has seen Giannis Antetokounmpo getting traded by Milwaukee to Miami, Ja Morant getting moved to Portland by Memphis and now this — one where the Raptors will hope that Leonard can weave his title magic one more time.
Toronto agreeing to make this deal suggests that it isn’t worried about the ongoing probe into an endorsement deal that Leonard had with a California-based sustainability services company.
The NBA opened its investigation back in September into whether a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC — a company that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year — broke league rules, following a report by journalist Pablo Torre. The primary issue for the NBA to decide is if the deal allowed the Clippers to circumvent league salary cap rules.
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