TORONTO – Kawhi Leonard is officially returning to the Toronto Raptors.
After a months-long delay, the NBA on Monday approved a deal between the Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers that would return Leonard to Toronto, where he won the 2019 NBA championship.
Star forward Brandon Ingram, guard Grady Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a trade of first-round picks in 2027 and two second-round picks in return will go to Los Angeles.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kawhi back to Toronto,” said Raptors general manager and executive vice president Bobby Webster. “His impact on our organization, our city and our country is undeniable, and he embodies the competitiveness and champion mindset that we value.
“We believe his leadership, experience and talent will help us continue to move toward our next championship.”
The deal was put on hold while the NBA investigated Leonard and the Clippers for salary cap circumvention.
The league concluded its investigation on September 2, fining Leonard US$700,000 but refusing to suspend him or void his contract.
In the NBA it was much tougher with the Clippers.
They were stripped of five first-round picks from 2029 to 2033 and the team was fined $30 million after an independent investigation found a range of misconduct and numerous serious rule violations. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and president of business operations Gillian Zucker were suspended for one year, and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months.
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Leonard is expected to speak to reporters Sept. 28 at Toronto Media Day.
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Although the deal was not officially presented to the league while the investigation was ongoing, Leonard, Ingram and Dick tried to be as involved with their new teams as NBA rules allowed.
Leonard sat front row at Kyle Lowry’s July 7 press conference at the OVO Sports Center in Toronto, where Lowry announced he was retiring from the Raptors. Ingram attended a Clippers summer league game in Las Vegas on July 10.
Leonard, 35, averaged 27.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.4 blocks per game last season with the Clippers in 2025-26.
Leonard is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time NBA All-Star, two-time NBA champion (with San Antonio in 2014 and Toronto in 2019) and is generally considered one of the game’s best defenders. He joins a Raptors team that had the fifth-best defensive rating in the league last season.
Ingram averaged 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists in one season in Toronto, but was injured 11 minutes into Game 5 of the Raptors’ first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. On May 8, he had surgery on his right heel.
Dick took a step back in his third season in the NBA, averaging 14 minutes per game in 2025-26 while averaging six points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists, all career lows.
“We also want to thank Brandon and Grady and appreciate the hard work, character and basketball skill they bring to our team every day,” Webster said.
Leonard was a central part of the Raptors’ 2019 title run but played just one season with the franchise before joining his hometown Clippers as a free agent, signing a three-year, $103 million deal in the offseason.
After opting out of the final year of that contract, Leonard re-signed with the Clippers in August 2021 to a maximum four-year contract worth $176.3 million, with the fourth year being a player option. However, he missed the entire 2021–22 season due to a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
That 2021 contract was a deal the NBA scrutinized after allegations surfaced in September 2025 that Leonard had signed a $28 million no-show agreement with Aspiration, an environmental company that filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 after co-founder Joe Sanberg was arrested and charged with fraud.
The proposed deal did not require any action on Leonard’s part other than remaining with the Clippers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press