The Bounce: Why Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James are leaving Los Angeles
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Yesterday’s free-agency action was kind of mild. Trades have become the new free agency, and we didn’t see a ton of movement in the market. At least not yet. Ten years ago, we had Timofey Mozgov, Kent Bazemore and Allen Crabbe signing for big money and making our heads spin. It would be nice if teams would stop being so responsible and turn back the clock
Kawhi not?
It’s a stunning Raptors reunion
Kawhi Leonard is being traded to the Raptors for the second time in his career. He’s headed to Toronto in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, a 2031 first-round pick, a 2033 first, a 2027 pick swap and two future second-round picks. If you gave me 15 guesses where Kawhi would be headed this summer, I would not have offered the Raptors once. Wouldn’t have even crossed my mind.
Back in 2019 when Kawhi and Paul George were joining the LA Clippers, Leonard was asked about why he chose the Clippers as his next team. Aside from Los Angeles being his home, he explained it was the first time he got to decide where he was going to play. He was drafted by San Antonio (in a draft-night trade with Indiana). Then he didn’t say that he was traded to Toronto or to the Raptors in 2018. He said he was “traded to Canada.”
It was such a funny way of describing how he ended up on the Raptors, even though it became a very successful season for him. He led Toronto to the 2019 championship with heroic performance after heroic performance, as he dragged his one good leg up and down the court. He had a knee injury then, and it’s only seemed to get worse no matter what approach the Clippers tried. Leonard missed a lot of games with the Clippers, but it felt like he was never going to leave there. LA was where he wanted to be.
So why is he going to play for the Raptors again? What does this mean for both teams and Kawhi? Feels like it’s time for me to talk to myself and answer my own questions.
Why did the Clippers trade him? They did not want to give him a contract extension. Leonard turned 35 years old on Monday and is in the final year of his contract. He’s eligible for a two-year, $126.9 million extension (give or take a few dollars). Instead of him leaving for nothing next summer, the Clippers decided to continue their youth movement.
Wait, the Clippers are doing a youth movement? Kind of! Remember when they had George, James Harden and Kawhi all together at some point in the 2023-24 season? Well …
- PG (36 now) signed with the 76ers in 2024 as the Clips avoided the second apron.
- The Clippers traded Harden (36) for Darius Garland (26) in February.
- They also traded Ivica Zubac (29) for Bennedict Mathurin (24) and picks.
- One of those picks became Keaton Wagler (19).
- They are moving Kawhi to Toronto for Ingram (28).
Is this the right move for the Clippers? They haven’t had a losing season during the Steve Ballmer era. The worst they’ve been is 42-40 (three times). This might put the Clippers in a position to be below .500 in the 2026-27 season. We have to see how they shape their roster. But after going all in on a duo that never brought them to true title contention, the Clippers are being more cautious and making sure to add draft assets back into the mix.
Were any other teams in the mix? The Dallas Mavericks made an offer of P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson and picks. It didn’t get anywhere. Minnesota and Detroit both inquired about Kawhi, but he reportedly did not want to sign an extension in either place.
Are the Raptors contenders in the East now? Uh … I have no idea. This team made the second round and lost to Cleveland in seven games. With Kawhi instead of Ingram, they’re definitely better. But stop me if you’ve heard this before: They’ll need Leonard to be healthy in the postseason. He’s had two pretty healthy seasons in the last three. He had his highest-scoring season (27.9 on 50.5/38.7/89.2 shooting splits) of his career in 65 games this season. But it didn’t get the Clippers into the playoffs.
The good news for Toronto is that the East, after the Knicks, is pretty open. The Heat need to fill in their roster around Giannis. The Pacers need to make sure Tyrese Haliburton is healthy coming off his right Achilles tear. The Celtics need to calm down the Jaylen Brown situation and add depth. Philadelphia is Philadelphia. The Pistons still need to get Cade Cunningham more help. The Cavs might get LeBron James? Toronto’s case is as good as just about anybody’s at the moment.
I wonder if there are any grades for this trade? What a coincidence! I wrote some yesterday!
What a reunion with Kawhi means for the Raptors
Eric Koreen and Jeshua Kidd
The last 24
📚 Wait, where? The NBA is moving the NBA Cup finals away from Las Vegas. It’ll be at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse.
😞 To-bye-as Harris? The Pistons are dealing with Jalen Duren drama. It may cost them Tobias Harris.
☘️ No market? The Celtics have been dealing with Brown drama this offseason. Apparently, there isn’t much of a trade market for him.
🏆 Champs. The New York Liberty won their second WNBA Commissioner’s Cup in three years. That’s because they have Breanna Stewart in the clutch.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pas
Next chapter
LeBron’s Lakers tenure is done, but he’s not
Let me clarify that we only think this is the last LeBron James chapter. We don’t actually know, because he’s playing longer than anybody has ever played in the NBA. Yesterday, LeBron informed the Lakers he was going to play in his 24th season, breaking the previous record of 23. (That record was set by LeBron James.) The caveat with him extending his career is that he also informed the Lakers he will not play for them next season.
They can move on without him. That ends his eight-year run with them, which is the longest continuous stretch of employment with one team in his career. Now the rumors are flying all over the place about where he might end up. It mostly boils down to the Warriors and the Cavaliers. That’s not stopping the Timberwolves from making a pitch, but he’s probably not going there.
We talked extensively yesterday about the possibility of James teaming up with Anthony Davis on the Warriors. And how that would happen. Also, what that might mean for the Warriors. A pretty elaborate plan and a transactional Rube Goldberg machine of things that would have to reunite those two players on the Warriors. Would James head to Golden State without Davis joining them? Is the allure of Steph Curry and Draymond Green enough? Would Jimmy Butler get healthy in time to help out?
It would make sense for James to join Steph for his final chapter. That would come with a massive pay cut, but really all of James’ options include that at this point. This will be about what makes him happy in what is likely his final season … we think? I guess he could push it to 25 years in the NBA. Nothing should surprise us at this point. Just like the idea of him going back to Cleveland should be a legitimate possibility.
James could be the glue guy for the Cavs in a similar way he found that role with the Lakers in the second half of last season. He has plenty left in the tank. I’m just not sure the Cavs have the personnel ready to make more noise in the postseason. They’ve flamed out pretty badly the last four playoffs. At the same time, Harden is delaying re-signing with Cleveland to see if he needs to take a discount to help facilitate this.
Is it a storybook ending to have him go back to Cleveland yet again? Can he put the Cavs over the top one more time? Or does playing alongside Curry and staying close to L.A. matter more to him? We’ll find out in the coming days.
Free-agency roundup
Day 1 ends with a whimper
Free agency didn’t exactly open with a bang yesterday. There is a lot of slow play happening, as we’ve been inundated with more big-name trades than big-name free agents (along with some interesting extension talks).
LeBron is going to take his time, Norman Powell didn’t sign on Tuesday (though he signed with the Bulls on Wednesday morning) and we’re going through the drama of Walker Kessler and Duren desperately trying to figure out how to get any leverage in restricted free agency. Spoiler alert: They can’t! They just have to hope the Jazz and Pistons, respectively, decide they don’t want to deal with it anymore and figure out a sign-and-trade.
As for what actually happened yesterday, we had a few significant signings. Here are the main things to know (and check out all my Day 1 grades, analyses and head-scratchers here):
Tim Hardaway Jr. agrees to sign with Miami: This isn’t exactly re-signing Powell, but it is a pretty big win for the Heat. Hardaway Jr. played like a Sixth Man of the Year last season with Denver. He shot well over 40 percent from deep, scored a lot off the bench and was the perfect role player most nights. The Heat need spacing around Giannis and Bam Adebayo. THJ will give that, and he’s only costing $6.5 million for next season.
Keon Ellis agrees to sign with Brooklyn: This signing was confusing for me. I get it from Brooklyn’s standpoint. I don’t think the Nets want to keep losing every year. I’m more confused about why Ellis would choose Brooklyn. He’s getting $18 million over two years, and it might just end up being a one-year deal. He’s a good 3-and-D guard off the bench. Why isn’t he signing with a contender?
Luke Kennard agrees to sign with Phoenix: This was two years and $13 million to put Kennard in the desert with Devin Booker. After trading for Miles Bridges, the Suns were in desperate need of outside shooting. Losing Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen hurt in that department. Kennard is one of the best shooters in the league.
Dean Wade agrees to sign with Philadelphia: This might have been a sign the Cavs think they can lure LeBron back. All the chatter the previous two days was about Cleveland trying to find enough room under the second apron to re-sign Wade. Now, he’s headed to Philly. It’s a $39 million deal over four years. The Sixers are hoping he can be a 3-and-D guy for them.
Make sure to follow all the news and updates in our free-agency live blog!