The Los Angeles Clippers are close to trading star forward Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, ESPN reported Tuesday.
The deal, pending physicals, would send Leonard back to the franchise he led to the 2019 NBA championship.
Los Angeles reportedly would receive All-Star forward Brandon Ingram, third-year guard Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, one pick swap and two second-round selections.
Leonard, who turned 35 on Monday, is a two-time NBA Finals MVP — the second award coming when he led the Raptors past the Golden State Warriors in six games. He averaged 28.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in the series that delivered Toronto’s only NBA title to date.
In 24 games that postseason, he averaged 30.5 points and his 732 points are third-most in a single postseason. He also made the most memorable shot in Raptors history, getting off a shot from the right corner with the second-round game tied in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers that bounced on the rim four times before dipping in as time expired to give Toronto a 92-90 series-ending victory.
Leonard averaged 26.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in 60 games with Toronto in 2018-19, his lone season with the team before moving on to the Clippers.
During his seven seasons in Los Angeles, he appeared in only 59.7% of the Clippers’ regular-season games (331 of 554) due to a string of injuries. But Leonard capped his run with his finest season since his 2019-20 debut with the Clippers. He averaged a career-high 27.9 points along with 6.4 rebounds in 65 games to earn seventh place in the league’s Most Valuable Player voting as well as his seventh All-Star Game nod.
His final season in Los Angeles also was marked by an ongoing NBA investigation whether the Clippers went around the salary cap by paying him through an endorsement with Aspiration, a banking company, instead of through proper payroll channels.
Leonard reportedly only wanted to play for the Clippers or Raptors in the 2026-27 season. Los Angeles partially displayed its hand toward a rebuild by trading guard James Harden and center Ivica Zubac during the 2025-26 season.
In addition to being a seven-time All-Star, Leonard has finished in the top 10 of MVP voting five times and claimed two NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards.
After starring at San Diego State, Leonard was the No. 15 pick of the 2011 NBA Draft and ended up with the San Antonio Spurs.
Leonard emerged as a star with the Spurs and was Finals MVP in 2013-14 when San Antonio beat the Miami Heat in five games.
He had a falling out with the organization over a leg injury and played in just nine games in 2017-18 before being traded to the Raptors.
Ingram, 28, is a two-time All-Star entering his 11th NBA campaign. He was an All-Star for Toronto last season in his lone campaign with the club when he averaged 21.5 points and 5.6 rebounds.
Ingram has a 19.8 career average while playing three seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers and six seasons with New Orleans Pelicans before the season in Toronto.
Dick, 22, averaged 9.2 points in 190 games (72 starts) in three seasons with the Raptors.
–Field Level Media
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