Why Hasn't The Kawhi Leonard Trade To Raptors Gone Through Yet?

September 09, 2026 ,
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The Los Angeles Clippers are fuming. They're angry at the NBA for the heavy-handed punishment handed down to them for the cap circumvention scandal. And they're super peeved at Kawhi Leonard.

But now that the penalties have been handed down by commissioner Adam Silver and Leonard is free of any suspension or contract voiding, it was thought that the paused trade to send Kawhi to the Toronto Raptors would be going through. 
However, that's not been the case. 

Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report has offered up one reason why the Clippers aren't moving yet to complete the transaction that was agreed to on June 30th to send Kawhi back to Toronto in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and several first-round picks. 
"The Clippers are still kind of licking their wounds here and figuring out how they want to move forward," Fischer said. "They are also very upset...

"There is some element that Los Angeles is frustrated and disappointed by the fact that Kawhi Leonard essentially got off scot-free here," Fischer continued. "...The Clippers are pissed, and they're unhappy with the situation and there's definitely some resentment [because] it seems and sounds that Kawhi is essentially getting to have his cake and eat it too."

Could the Clippers put the kibosh on the trade in an act of retribution? Spite? 

It sounds childish, but the Clippers have been accused of worse things (Obviously. That's why we're where we are now).

Is Clippers' front office disarray the cause for the Kawhi trade holdup?

It has also been suggested that there's another, more practical reason for the hold-up in completing the trade. 

"The Clippers are saying to Toronto, to Brandon Ingram (and Gradey Dick), that they are working through their front office structure before moving forward with this." said Fischer. "But everyone else, every other party is acting as if this deal is going to get done imminently."

See, the trouble is, LA's front office has, essentially, been largely suspended as part of the NBA's punishment. Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations, was suspended without pay for six months. And of course, owner Steve Ballmer is banned for a year. Trent Redden, the GM, who escaped any penalties, has stepped in to oversee basketball ops in the interim. But the Clippers, it seems, aren't sure how they will proceed on that front. 

Leonard has been working out with his Raptors teammates in an unofficial minicamp in Miami this week. And Ingram and Dick have been working out at the Clippers facilities. 

Training camp is only a few weeks away, so something will have to give soon. 


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