Everyone loves a good reunion, and Kawhi Leonard is returning to the Toronto Raptors.
When last we saw Leonard sporting dinosaurs, in his lone season in Toronto, he led the Raptors on a magical run to the 2019 NBA championship, the franchise’s first-ever title.
It had cost them DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round draft pick (Keldon Johnson), and it was worth every penny, because they won. But Leonard did immediately leave Toronto at the altar in 2019 free agency, choosing instead to team with Paul George on their hometown Los Angeles Clippers, where controversy ensued over seven years.
Leonard, in coordination with the Clippers, remains under investigation by the NBA for allegedly circumventing the salary cap. A Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation by Pablo Torre uncovered an alleged no-show job that earned Leonard an additional $50 million.
Leonard received $291.7 million from the Clippers, and allegedly more, over seven years. He is owed $50.3 million this coming season and presumably wants much more. As Chris Haynes reported, Leonard is already working on a two-year contract extension in Toronto.
Beyond the controversy, though, there is plenty of injury concern about Leonard. He left the San Antonio Spurs in 2019 with what was termed as right quadriceps tendinopathy, a chronic condition in his leg. But the Raptors gambled and managed the then-27-year-old, who delivered 60 games in the regular season and 24 even better ones in the playoffs.
Leonard was phenomenal in the 2019 postseason, averaging a 31-9-4 on 49/38/88 shooting splits, defeating Joel Embiid’s Philadelphia 76ers (thanks to a buzzer-beating Game 7 winner from Leonard), Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks and Stephen Curry’s dynastic (albeit injury-plagued) Golden State Warriors en route to his second Finals MVP award. (He also took home the honor in 2014, when his Spurs won the title.)
Was that lightning in a bottle? Due to injury, Leonard missed 40% of the Clippers’ regular-season games and 30% of their playoff games in his seven seasons, including their only trip to a conference finals in 2021, when his right ACL required season-ending surgery. He missed the entirety of the 2021-22 season and has dealt with inflammation in the knee ever since — concerns that cost him the end of the 2023 and 2024 postseasons, too.
After appearing in just 37 games of the 2024-25 season, Leonard enjoyed a bounce-back campaign at the age of 34 this past year, averaging a 28-6-4 on 51/39/89 shooting splits over 65 games. It was arguably the best statistical season of his career. He earned MVP and All-NBA First Team consideration, despite the controversy ever-swirling around him.
It is not controversy that should concern the Raptors. It is injury. How could they possibly put their faith into Leonard’s right leg seven years removed from a miracle season, and one season removed from another? It does feel like every game Leonard plays is a gift.
But that’s the thing. When he plays, man is he good. He is a gift to the basketball gods, a two-way menace on par with anyone in his generation at his peak, and he gives Toronto a chance to win. With All-Star forward Scottie Barnes and a ton of talent around them, including RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and Collin Murray-Boyles, they can compete in an open Eastern Conference. The Raptors limped to a Game 7 in the first round without Leonard.
Now, they enter the summer with the chance to further bolster the roster, having landed Leonard in the hours before free agency opened. Might more moves be on the horizon?
Regardless, everything hinges on the health of Leonard. It cost them Brandon Ingram (a 28-year-old two-time All-Star), Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, a first-round pick swap and a pair of second-rounders, according to Charania. That was not much more than they gave up for him the first time around. It paid off before. Why not again? Well, does lightning in a bottle strike twice? Is this a good reunion? Only time will tell.
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