The Los Angeles Clippers are moving on from their franchise star, and now a new era begins.
After seven seasons of trying to build a championship team around Kawhi Leonard, the Los Angeles Clippers have finally moved on.
The Clippers traded the 35-year-old forward to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, per ESPN's Shams Charania, ending a run that featured four All-Star selections, an All-NBA Second Team nod this past season, and one trip to the conference finals.
The Clippers chose not to offer Leonard a long-term extension this offseason, and once his camp made it known that Toronto was the only team he would sign an extension with, a deal became all but certain.
Leonard has one year and $50.3 million left on his contract heading into 2026-27, and the Raptors plan to work out a new deal that could see him finish his career in the city where he won the 2019 NBA title.
What the Clippers Got Back
In return for Leonard, the Clippers received Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two future first-round draft picks, a pair of second-round picks, and a pick swap.
Ingram averaged 21.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in his first season with the 46-36 Raptors and earned his second career All-Star selection, while Dick put up just 6.0 points in 14.0 minutes per game as a bench piece who fell in and out of the rotation throughout the year.
The package gives the Clippers a proven scorer in Ingram and a pile of future picks to add to the rebuild they already set in motion at the trade deadline.
Los Angeles moved James Harden to Cleveland for Darius Garland and sent Ivica Zubac to Indiana for Bennedict Mathurin and what turned into the fifth overall pick, which they used to draft Keaton Wagler.
Leonard posted a career-high 27.9 points per game across 65 games in what turned out to be his last season in Los Angeles, adding 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.9 steals while earning All-NBA Second Team honors.
Even with that production, the Clippers finished 42-40 and were knocked out of the play-in tournament by the Golden State Warriors, confirming what the front office already believed about where this roster was headed.
What Comes Next
With Leonard's $50.3 million salary now off the books, the Clippers are set to be one of the most active teams when free agency opens.
They still need to figure out restricted free agent Mathurin and unrestricted free agent John Collins, but moving Leonard's deal off the cap gives them a bit more room to work with.
Names like LeBron James and Peyton Watson have already been floated as potential targets, and the Clippers now have the financial space to go after them.
The franchise selected Wagler with the fifth overall pick earlier this month and now has a young core built around Garland, Wagler, Mathurin, and Ingram, along with the additional picks from this deal.
For the first time in years, the Clippers are not banking on a superstar to save the franchise, and the Leonard trade is the clearest sign yet that Los Angeles has fully committed to building something new.
