Kawhi Leonard is inches away from officially returning to the Raptors. While the trade has been agreed on, it has been put on hold pending the NBA’s investigation into the controversy around Kawhi Leonard’s contract and the alleged attempt to circumvent the salary cap limits.
Following the announcement of the trade, Scottie Barnes, the current franchise player in Toronto, spoke to a sideline reporter during the Raptors’ 80-83 loss to the Celtics in Summer League tonight. He addressed his expectations from the move and seemed to have taken a cryptic shot at the Knicks or the Clippers with a bold statement.
“Seems very dangerous, we’ve got people everywhere on the floor. Every position is ready to guard; have that mentality. We’re trying to take candy from a baby, essentially,” said Barnes boldly.
“We’ve got guys who are everywhere and can do so many different things to help this team out and are ready to go out there and play. Then playing with Kawhi, we know what Kawhi can do out there: being able to score the ball, guard the ball, he steals, he’s active, he’s going to just fit right in,” Barnes concluded.
Now, there can be two interpretations of what Barnes said. He’s either referring to the Clippers as the baby from whom they are trying to take Leonard away. Or they are referring to the defending champions, the Knicks, as the baby, who have ‘the candy’, as in the championship that the Raptors want to take from them with Leonard.
While it is unclear who Barnes was talking about, what is certain is that Leonard would be a solid fit on the Raptors if he manages to stay healthy. Despite a rough start to last season, he carried the Clippers to the play-in tournament and finished seventh in the MVP voting.
At age 34 (now 35 since June 29), Leonard ended the year averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while going 50.5% from the field and 38.7% from behind the three-point line. This shows that his presence will instantly impact both ends of the floor, as he is a defensive maestro who can guard any position.
The trade is currently on hold as the Raptors would have had to assume all the risk if the Clippers were found guilty in the NBA’s investigation. The Clippers have announced that the deal has principally been agreed upon, and they’re just waiting for the league office to give its approval.
At the end of their statement, the Clippers claimed that they are not guilty of what they have been accused of doing and expect the deal to become official once the league completes its proceedings. Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Clippers, has maintained this stance since the controversy came to light.
Usually, when trades have been announced by reliable sources like ESPN, they don’t get cancelled. But we saw with the Mark Williams cancelled trade to the Lakers in 2024-25 that anything is possible even after the official announcement has been made.
Therefore, it remains to be seen whether Leonard is heading to Toronto and how he fits alongside the new roster that has been, since the championship run, built around Scottie Barnes.
