TORONTO — With Toronto Raptors training camp less than three weeks away, Kawhi Leonard is still officially a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, Sportsnet’s Michael Grange reported Friday.
“But the concern level is … not that high, is what I’m hearing,” Grange wrote.
The trade is still expected to be completed, Grange reported, though the timing has not been determined.
On June 30, Toronto agreed to acquire Leonard for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round pick swap, and second-round picks in 2030 and 2033. The Raptors put the deal on hold July 9 until the NBA finished investigating whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay Leonard.
The league announced its findings Sept. 2. Los Angeles forfeited five first-round picks, one in each draft from 2029 through 2033, and was fined $30 million. Owner Steve Ballmer was suspended from all league and team activities for one year. Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, was suspended without pay for six months.
Leonard was not suspended, and his contract was not voided. He was ordered to pay the league $700,000.
Clippers Front Office Structure Delays Kawhi Leonard Trade
On Tuesday, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line posted that the Clippers were “still working through their new front office structure” after the suspensions of Ballmer and Frank. Fischer listed it as the main reason the trade had not been finalized.
General manager Trent Redden is expected to take over as the Clippers’ lead basketball decision-maker while Frank is out, Marc Stein reported. Los Angeles has not formally announced that change.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Law Murray reported the same day that the Raptors, Leonard’s camp, and the camps of other players in the deal were confident it would go through soon.
Leonard spent part of this week with Raptors players at a minicamp in Miami, according to Stein and Fischer. Because the trade is not official, he has been limited to individual workouts.
On Thursday, The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have opened a criminal investigation into the Clippers’ dealings with Leonard. The inquiry is in its earliest stages, and prosecutors have issued at least one subpoena, according to the Times. The Clippers and Ballmer are also considering a lawsuit against the NBA that would ask a judge for a restraining order over the penalties, the newspaper reported.
Raptors Open Training Camp Sept. 29 In Quebec City
Grange wrote in late July that Leonard would be with the team when camp opens Sept. 29 in Quebec City. In August, Fischer reported that Leonard believed the trade would go through before camp. The deal was agreed to with the understanding that Leonard would negotiate a multiyear extension with Toronto, Fischer added.
Leonard is entering the final season of a three-year, $149.5 million contract and is owed $50.3 million in 2026-27. He turned 35 on June 29.
Last season, Leonard averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 65 games with the Clippers. He shot 50.5% from the field and 38.7% from 3-point range. MVP voters placed him seventh, and he made the All-NBA Second Team.
The Clippers finished 42-40 and lost to the Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament. Toronto won 46 games and fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games in the first round.
Ingram averaged 21.5 points and 5.6 rebounds in 77 games for the Raptors last season. Dick, the 13th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, has averaged 9.2 points and 2.5 rebounds across his first three seasons.
Leonard won Finals MVP in 2019, his only season in Toronto, as the Raptors won their first championship. Masai Ujiri, hired as president of the Dallas Mavericks in May, was running the Raptors when they traded for Leonard in July 2018.
Toronto holds media day Sept. 28. Camp runs Sept. 29 through Oct. 2 at Université Laval’s PEPS athletic complex. The Raptors open the preseason Oct. 3 at Videotron Centre in the first NBA preseason game played in Quebec City, then face the Clippers on Oct. 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
The regular season opens Oct. 21 against the Chicago Bulls at Scotiabank Arena. Toronto visits the Clippers at Intuit Dome on Nov. 2.
