Kawhi Leonard’s Thoughts on Delayed Trade Back To Toronto Revealed
The NBA's investigation into the alleged cap circumvention scandal involving the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard continues to drag on. Almost a year now. All sorts of rumors have circulated, including what potential punishments, if any, are being considered by the NBA for the Clippers and, if necessary, for Leonard.
That has led to the June 30th trade with the Toronto Raptors that was to bring the 2019 NBA Finals MVP back to The Six being put on hold while everyone awaits the results. There has been a lot of doom and gloom about whether or not the trade will be able to go through.
However, Kawhi himself seems pretty certain about what he feels is going to go down, and his thoughts on the matter were revealed by Jake Fischer in the latest Stein Line.
Kawhi Leonard reportedly believes he will be able to join the Toronto Raptors for training camp, per @JakeLFischer
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 10, 2026
“The Raptors made the decision on July 9 to press pause rather than complete the trade until the NBA announces a resolution to the long-running external… pic.twitter.com/VqrYvV3CLX
"Sources say that Leonard's agent, Harrison Gaines, has maintained frequent contact with the NBA Players Association while the firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz — which was hired by the league office last September — proceeds with an investigation that has consumed 11 months.
"And Leonard, sources say, strongly believes that the trade will ultimately go through, enabling him to rejoin the Raptors in time for training camp... and he has continued to operate under that belief."
As part of the deal, the 35-year-old was also expected to negotiate a multiyear extension with Toronto worth north of $100M, "to extend the reunion beyond the coming season," added Fischer. Leonard is due $50.3 million in 2026-27 in the final year of his current contract.
The Clippers have denied all along the allegations that they funnelled funds to Leonard through a third-party company, Aspiration, or in any other way violated the league's CBA. Owner Steve Ballmer is expected to challenge any possible NBA sanctions through arbitration, or any other means possible.
Leonard has support of NBPA, & is confident deal to Toronto will go through
"Leonard, meanwhile, appears to have the support of the players' association, whose new executive director David Kelly told reporters in Las Vegas last month that the union does not believe 'there's a there there' when it comes to finding wrongdoing directly from the player regarding the various endorsement deals he secured during his tenure as the Clippers' franchise player," Fischer wrote.
One of the "latest" developments that's seemed to spook a lot of people was the recent revelation that Leonard also had alleged ties to Daktronics and to Rhode Island FC, which were supposedly "new" dealings that were adding to the investigation. That, however, was also shot down by Fischer:
“Sources say the recent revelations from Torre's podcast regarding additional off-court business deals for Leonard… both the alleged Daktronics contract and an ownership stake in a soccer team in Rhode Island with tangential ties to Ballmer and the Clippers… did not come as revelations to the Wachtell probe, which had already been looking into both.”
