Kawhi Leonard’s expiring contract has sparked “real” trade conversations, with the Raptors and Clippers discussing a potential return to Canada and Dallas showing interest tied to Masai Ujiri. The details are still unclear—especially the salary math—while Leon
The first thing that stands out in the latest Kawhi Leonard trade buzz is not the player. It’s the set of doors he’s willing to open.
Leonard didn’t want the Toronto Raptors back in 2018, when he was with the then-San Antonio Spurs. His hope was to force a way back to his native Southern California. and the trade north of the border became. effectively. a one-year detour. He did win a championship with Toronto. and then—immediately—signed with the Los Angeles Clippers as a free agent in the summer of 2019.
That history is now colliding with the one thing teams can’t ignore: Leonard’s current situation. He is again on an expiring contract. and the fear that he could leave as a 2027 free agent is limiting his market this offseason to teams he would be willing to extend with. In that lane. Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported that Leonard is only interested in extending with two possible destinations: his former teams. the Raptors and the Spurs.
So the chatter isn’t random. The talks are pointed.
The Raptors and Clippers have held “real” trade conversations involving Leonard moving back to Canada, Fischer reported Sunday. The exact return package is not clear. but Fischer noted a preference in sending Brandon Ingram back to Los Angeles instead of RJ Barrett as part of the necessary matching salary.
That preference matters, because it’s tied to how the money would work.
Marc Stein and Jake Fischer also reported Leonard’s interest in extending with Raptors and Spurs—meaning any team trying to build a deal has to assume Leonard is not just looking for a landing spot. but for a long-term relationship. The Clippers may not even be enthusiastic about moving him. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer reportedly does not want to trade Leonard. Yet. a trade “makes plenty of sense on paper” after the Clippers started a youth movement by trading James Harden for Darius Garland and Ivica Zubac for Bennedict Mathurin and a collection of draft picks.
Even there, the financial reality keeps pulling the conversation toward one direction: future draft capital. The Clippers still owe control over their first-round draft picks through 2029 thanks to the deal that got them Harden originally, so adding future draft capital should be a priority.
The Clippers have maintained their innocence. but the NBA is investigating the sponsorship agreement between Leonard and Aspiration for possible cap circumvention. If the Clippers are found to be guilty, they could lose more draft picks. Replenishing that war chest with someone else’s picks would obviously help if the league’s findings land the wrong way.
The Raptors, meanwhile, carry their own leverage—because they control all of their own first-round picks moving forward. They could potentially offer as many as four first-round picks and three first-round swaps for Leonard. though the final price would surely be lower since he is about to turn 35 and has a lengthy history of injuries.
The one name the Clippers will probably ask for is Collin Murray-Boyles, a breakout rookie from last season. But the Raptors will almost certainly keep him out of the deal as a necessary piece for next year’s roster and beyond.
Draft value might be negotiable. Salary matching is where the pressure tightens.
The Raptors have very limited room beneath the first apron. If they were to make a trade where they take in more money than they send out. they will be hard-capped there. Any trade in which Barrett’s expiring deal is the primary outgoing salary would almost certainly do that. limiting Toronto in building any depth around Leonard.
Realistically. the Clippers are going to need to take back one of Ingram. Immanuel Quickley. or Jakob Poeltl—each on less-than-desirable long-term deals—to make the deal function. The goal for the Raptors would be to send out more money than the $50.3 million they’d be taking in with Leonard. so they could instead trigger a second-apron hard cap and have more room to build out their roster.
The simplest version of that math—at least on paper—is the one where the Raptors try to make Ingram that money.
The Raptors are coming off a surprisingly successful season. Scottie Barnes had a career year, and they won 46 games en route to the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. Despite a variety of injuries to players like Ingram and Quickley. the Raptors managed to push the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the first round. Toronto believes it is ready to make a leap into genuine Eastern Conference contention.
Leonard’s age and injury history represent risks. Still, he is described as the best single player available this offseason. If the Raptors can swing a deal to bring him back, they would immediately become one of the biggest threats in the conference to the defending NBA champion New York Knicks.
But there’s another pressure point inside all of this—how much Leonard’s preferences shrink the bargaining.
If Leonard is only interested in going back to teams with which he has a history, perhaps the sharpest middle ground is a reunion with his former GM in Toronto, Masai Ujiri, who is now heading up the front office for the Dallas Mavericks.
Late Sunday, The Athletic reported that Dallas has “registered interest” in making a deal to bring the 2019 Finals MVP aboard to pair alongside Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving.
The reported road to Dallas includes a swap that, on its face, shows how quickly the conversation becomes about competing roster needs.
The Mavericks and LA Clippers have discussed a deal that would send the seven-time All-Star to Dallas for a package that would include P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson and draft picks, league sources granted anonymity to describe deliberations still in progress.
And the Mavericks’ limitation is blunt. They don’t have a ton of draft capital to dangle. as they don’t control any of their own first-round picks through 2030. They could trade 2031 and 2033. but that would leave them without control of a draft pick for the next seven years while they’re trying to build a contender around Cooper Flagg.
Those two picks seem like a steep price. Still. the case being laid out is straightforward: with Flagg as an All-NBA player next season. and with Irving and Leonard. the Mavericks could talk themselves into being at least a playoff contender—and maybe more—depending on the health of Dereck Lively III and how quickly this year’s No. 9 overall pick, Morez Johnson Jr., is ready to meaningfully contribute.
For now. the trade market for Leonard looks less like a wide open auction and more like a set of tightly guarded rooms—Raptors. Spurs. and maybe a few routes that run through relationships and salary constraints. The player’s expiring contract keeps every team honest. But it’s Leonard’s interest in only extending with specific former destinations that makes every proposal feel less like speculation and more like a test of whether the money. the timing. and the incentives can all finally line up.
Kawhi Leonard trade rumors Toronto Raptors Los Angeles Clippers Dallas Mavericks Masai Ujiri Brandon Ingram RJ Barrett Collin Murray-Boyles Immanuel Quickley Jakob Poeltl Aspiration sponsorship Steve Ballmer