{"id":831303,"date":"2026-09-09T07:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T07:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/831303\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T07:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T07:12:18","slug":"kawhi-leonard-comments-on-status-of-trade-to-raptors-amid-nbas-historic-punishment-for-the-clippers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/831303\/","title":{"rendered":"Kawhi Leonard comments on status of trade to Raptors amid NBA&#8217;s historic punishment for the Clippers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>   <a class=\"fw\" href=\"https:\/\/profile.google.com\/cp\/Cg0vZy8xMWcxajNfc2h3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitc.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> Follow us on Google Discover <\/a>  <\/p>\n<p>Kawhi Leonard is still waiting to find out where he will be playing basketball next season, but the forward seems resolute it will be with the Toronto Raptors.<\/p>\n<p>The LA Clippers agreed on a trade to send Leonard to Toronto in June, but it hadn\u2019t materialised as all parties were waiting for the NBA\u2019s investigation into the Clippers for cap circumvention.<\/p>\n<p>With the NBA handing out a historic punishment for the Clippers and a $700K fine for Leonard, everyone is waiting to see when the trade will be officially completed, despite the impact of the punishment.<\/p>\n<p>Kawhi Leonard \u2018hopes\u2019 he can play with the Toronto Raptors<\/p>\n<p>Leonard was spotted by a fan in downtown Miami and was asked if he will be joining the Raptors soon, with the 35-year-old sharing a frank response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope so\u2026 We are gonna win.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leonard has been resolute in his belief that he will be joining the Raptors all summer, publicly attending multiple events in Toronto as well as attending Kyle Lowry\u2019s retirement announcement.<\/p>\n<p>Recent reports indicate that Leonard\u2019s trade to the Raptors is a matter of when and not if, with both parties expected to honor the original trade they made regardless of the impact of the punishment.<\/p>\n<p>The three first-round picks the Clippers will receive (two unprotected and one swap) as part of this deal will be the only real draft capital LA has going forward after being penalised five future first-round picks for their part in circumventing the cap.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-1155342520-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors against the Orlando Magic during Game Three of the first round of the 2019 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at the Amway Center on April 19, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. The Raptors defeated the Magic 98 to 93.\" class=\"wp-image-2586658\" \/>Photo by Don Juan Moore\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>With team owner Steve Ballmer suspended, as well as multiple key front office members like GM Lawrence Frank, the franchise will likely make the Leonard trade official after naming interim chiefs.<\/p>\n<p>MORE TORONTO RAPTORS STORIES<\/p>\n<p>Kawhi averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists with the Clippers last season, his best scoring year in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>Leonard is expected to receive a contract extension with the Raptors after the deal is finalised, with Kawhi in the final year of his current contract.<\/p>\n<p>Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us on Google Discover Kawhi Leonard is still waiting to find out where he will be playing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":831304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[7,529,135,6,681,680,476,3820],"class_list":["post-831303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto-raptors","tag-basketball","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-nba","tag-raptors","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-raptors","tag-torontoraptors"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117239844010851912","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=831303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}