Five Things: Kawhi Leonard trade’s potential impact on Clippers and Raptors

TORONTO – The NBA announced Wednesday that it had completed its investigation of Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers for salary cap circumvention, doling out punishments to Leonard, his inner circle and team executives.

 The conclusion of the investigation also clears the way for a trade between the Toronto Raptors and Clippers that had been on hold for months.

Here’s what you need to know about how the pending Toronto-L.A. trade will impact both teams:

HISTORIC PUNISHMENT — The NBA stripped the Clippers of five first-round picks and fined the team US$30 million for multiple violations, while Leonard was fined $700,000. Owner Steve Ballmer and team president of business operations Gillian Zucker were each suspended for one year, while president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was banned for six months. The Clippers will forfeit a first-round pick in five straight NBA drafts starting in 2029. It’s the stiffest penalty in league history and means that Los Angeles’s next homegrown first-round pick will be taken in 2032.

GENERATIONAL DAMAGE — When the Clippers signed Leonard as a free agent in 2019, one of his demands was that they also acquire forward Paul George. To do that, L.A. had to trade Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round draft picks, and the right to swap two other first-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander is now a two-time NBA MVP and the cornerstone of the Thunder’s 2025 championship team. That trade, coupled with the punishment for circumventing the salary cap to keep Leonard with the Clippers, means that L.A. will go 13 years without being able to use its own first-round pick.

MAN ABOUT TOWN — When Leonard was on the Raptors in 2018-19, he was a bit of a homebody, spending time with his teammates but otherwise just focused on his work. Toronto announced on July 9 that it was pausing the proposed trade with the Clippers until the NBA had completed its investigation. That didn’t stop Leonard from embracing Toronto’s summer, including taking in matches at the National Bank Open or sitting in the first row of the news conference where Kyle Lowry announced his retirement as a Raptor.

DEPTH CHART — Once the deal is submitted to the NBA and approved by the league, Leonard will join a Raptors lineup that includes all-star Scottie Barnes, Canadian swingman RJ Barrett, talented rookie Collin Murray-Boyles, point guard Immanuel Quickley and young rotation pieces Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walter. 

Toronto had the fifth-best defence in the NBA last season — in both adjusted and unadjusted defensive ratings — and the addition of Leonard could make the Raptors even tougher. A two-time defensive player of the year, Leonard has also been named to seven NBA all-defensive teams. He will also be replacing go-to scorer Brandon Ingram in Toronto’s starting five, swapping arguably the team’s worst defender for one of the best in the league.

SALARY CAP RELIEF — Barrett, from nearby Mississauga, Ont., is entering the final season of his current contract, earning $29.6 million in 2026-27. The Raptors had maxed out their payroll before the Leonard deal, making it hard to re-sign 26-year-old Barrett for the 2027-28 season and beyond. However, Toronto will send Ingram’s $40 million contract and Gradey Dick’s expiring $7.1 million deal to the Clippers for the 35-year-old Leonard, who is owed $50.3 million this coming season. Leonard’s deal expires at the end of the 2026-27 campaign, however, putting the Raptors in a position to re-sign Barrett for 2027-28.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2026.