![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/toronto-raptors-v-los-angeles-clippers-los-angeles-california-january-10-e1788958634856.jpg\")
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 10: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers looks on during the second half of a game against the Toronto Raptors at Crypto.com Arena on January 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Toronto Raptors<\/a> are still waiting to get back the player who led them to their first-ever NBA championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n It has been a full week since the NBA<\/a> came down on the Los Angeles Clippers with historic penalties, docking five first round picks from the team and levying suspensions for its owner and general manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leonard, meanwhile, was slapped with a $700,000 fine after the league ruled on the investigation. But that appears to be good news for the Raptors, who can feel confident that Leonard will avoid suspension and come back to Toronto ready to play to start the 2026-27 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kawhi Leonard Sends Message as Raptors Stay Waiting<\/p>\n \n Calm as he often appears, even being at the center of the biggest team punishment in NBA history hasn\u2019t seemed to faze Leonard.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a video that has surfaced on social media<\/a>, Leonard responded \u201cI hope so\u201d to a fan who asked, \u201cYou are coming to Toronto, right? Please tell me you\u2019re coming to Toronto.\u201d Leonard then said, \u201cWe gonna win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Winning is all Leonard and the Raptors have known together, with Leonard\u2019s only season in Toronto ending in a championship.<\/p>\n Arriving in a late offseason trade from the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> in 2018, Leonard assembled one of the best seasons of his then eight-year career, captaining the Raptors to a 58-win regular season and a memorable march to the 2019 NBA title. In the championship round against the Golden State Warriors<\/a>, Leonard registered 28.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, collecting his second Finals MVP award.<\/p>\n The Hold Up On the Trade\u00a0<\/p>\n Many Raptors fans are itching to see Leonard back in Canada, but the proposed trade between Toronto and L.A. remains frozen.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to The Athletic, the hold up is from the Clippers side.<\/p>\n \u201cPer league sources, the Raptors, Leonard\u2019s camp and the camps of other prominent players in the trade remain very confident it will go through soon. Leonard, it should be noted, is known to be with his Raptors teammates (in an unofficial capacity) on a retreat of sorts in Miami this week, but according to multiple league sources, the Clippers have indicated the impact of the league\u2019s discipline on their front-office structure is the reason for the delay.\u201d<\/p>\n The Clippers, of course, have plenty to sift through in the wake of the ruling the NBA made last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Clippers shall forfeit five first-round draft picks, one in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania reported. \u201cClippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities, for approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA\u2019s circumvention rules.\u201d<\/p>\n The Clippers, already reportedly angered by the results of the investigation, are now dealing with disarray in the front office with training camp quickly approaching.<\/p>\n The Raptors, meanwhile, are sitting still and hoping the trade gets completed as soon as possible.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 10: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers looks on during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":831495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[7,6,681,680,476,3820],"class_list":["post-831494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto-raptors","tag-basketball","tag-nba","tag-raptors","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-raptors","tag-torontoraptors"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117241330093334349","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831494","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=831494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Los](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/los-angeles-clippers-v-philadelphia-76ers-philadelphia-pennsylvania-march-27-kawhi.jpg\")
GettyPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA \u2013 MARCH 27: Kawhi Leonard<\/a> #2 of the LA Clippers<\/a> reacts during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> at the Wells Fargo Center on March 27, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n