An eventual Toronto homecoming might happen for Kawhi Leonard this summer, but a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers back to the Raptors is on hold while the NBA completes its investigation into allegations of impermissible payments to skirt salary-cap rules and fines.
In September 2025 the NBA said it was looking into the Clippers for potential violations tied to an allegation they used a company, Aspiration, to pay Leonard $28 million. Nothing was asked of Leonard in the “no-show job” which left open concern it was a loophole to pad the amount of guaranteed money the Clippers offered when they signed him as a free agent.
The Raptors, who lost Leonard in that agreement after winning the NBA championship, said in a statement the trade agreed to on June 30 in principle wasn’t off, but the NBA made it clear Toronto “would assume the risk of any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Kawhi.”
“In light of this,” the Raptors said, “we will wait until the league’s investigation is complete.”
The Clippers also confirmed the deal was on hold on Thursday, which brings a trove of roster-related questions and complexities for each franchise.
Leonard and the Clippers are staying together until the NBA completes the investigation which is 10 months running. The Clippers again denied in a statement Thursday any wrongdoing.
“For the past 10 months, our organization has fully cooperated with an NBA investigation, participating in dozens of interviews, providing tens of thousands of documents, and facilitating access to our staff. While the process has been challenging, we have remained committed to transparency,” the Clippers said in a statement. “On June 30, we reached an agreement in principle to trade Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors. We have since been informed that the trade can only be finalized if the Raptors’ ownership group assumes the risk of penalties related to Kawhi’s contract that could theoretically result from the ongoing investigation. The investigation is ongoing, and we expect the trade to be finalized following its conclusion.
“At the heart of this investigation are Joe Sanberg and Aspiration. We did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard through Aspiration. Like many sophisticated investors, financial institutions, and business partners, we were victims of a fraud initiated by Sanberg, who has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison.”
ESPN also reported Thursday afternoon both teams expect the deal to eventually be finalized with punishment for any violations as established by the NBA likely to include monetary fines and loss of draft picks.
Terms of the in-limbo trade had handshake approval on either side with the Clippers receiving All-Star forward Brandon Ingram, third-year guard Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, one pick swap and two second-round selections in the deal.
Leonard, who turned 35 on Monday, is a two-time NBA Finals MVP. He led the Raptors past the Golden State Warriors in six games, averaging 28.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in the series that delivered Toronto’s only NBA title to date.
Leonard averaged 26.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in 60 games with Toronto in 2018-19, his lone season with the team before moving on to the Clippers.
During his seven seasons in Los Angeles, he appeared in only 59.7% of the Clippers’ regular-season games (331 of 554) due to a string of injuries. But Leonard capped his run with his finest season since his 2019-20 debut with the Clippers. He averaged a career-high 27.9 points along with 6.4 rebounds in 65 games to earn seventh place in the league’s Most Valuable Player voting as well as his seventh All-Star Game nod.
–Field Level Media
