The afternoon arrived with a touch of uncertainty surrounding Kawhi Leonard’s trade to the Toronto Raptors until Shams Charania revealed that both sides had already agreed to finalize the terms of the negotiation. The only remaining step was a call to officially sign off on the deal between the two franchises and the NBA offices.
To recall, the move would send Leonard to Canada in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks. At first glance, the agreement was forged on June 30, but the open investigation into the Kawhi case and the apparent frustration felt by the Clippers stalled the trade.
This morning, Steve Ballmer publicly accepted the sanction for violating the salary-cap rules and apologized to his fans and to the other owners. This did not necessarily have to speed up the trade process, with the Los Angeles Clippers still lacking a full-time replacement. Nevertheless, the operation accelerated in recent hours once the Clippers picked up the phone.
Kawhi Leonard returns to the home that was briefly his own, with one year left on his contract. The Toronto Raptors, now indeed, reclaim the player who made them champions in 2019 to help round out a project that should contend at the top of the Eastern Conference.
