|
Printable Page
06/30 18:19 CDT Kawhi Leonard going back to Toronto after Raptors make deal
with Clippers, AP source says
Kawhi Leonard going back to Toronto after Raptors make deal with Clippers, AP
source says
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
Kawhi Leonard is headed back to the Toronto Raptors, after they struck a deal
with the Los Angeles Clippers to reunite with the player who led their run to
the 2019 NBA championship, a person with knowledge of the talks said Tuesday.
The Raptors are sending Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, two
second-round picks and pick swap to the Clippers for Leonard, said the person
who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade
has not received the required league approval.
Leonard spent one season in Toronto, and that was the year the Raptors won
their lone title. He turned 35 on Monday but is coming off the highest-scoring
season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Clippers in 65 games.
Leonard is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, a two-time NBA
champion (also having won in 2014 with San Antonio) and is generally considered
one of the game's top defensive players.
The trade is the latest in what's becoming a long line of huge deals getting
made between clubs already this summer, one that has seen Giannis Antetokounmpo
getting traded by Milwaukee to Miami, Ja Morant getting moved to Portland by
Memphis and now this --- one where the Raptors will hope that Leonard can weave
his title magic one more time.
Toronto agreeing to make this deal suggests that it isn't worried about the
ongoing probe into an endorsement deal that Leonard had with a California-based
sustainability services company.
The NBA opened its investigation back in September into whether a $28 million
endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC --- a
company that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year --- broke league rules,
following a report by journalist Pablo Torre. The primary issue for the NBA to
decide is if the deal allowed the Clippers to circumvent league salary cap
rules.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
