Speech on TSN at the beginning of the week (Link to YouTube), ESPN’s Shams Charania discussed blockbuster trade that he finally sent Kawhi Leonard back to Predators on Monday after it was originally agreed June 30.
On the question whether Clippers and the Raptors considered changing the original terms of the deal after Los Angeles had to give up five first-round picks as part of the team punishment of the NBA for circumventing the salary cap to pay Leonard through “no-show” endorsement deals, Charanya said, “No, that never happened.”
“It was always going to be this trade. … I never got the sense that either side not only wavered on this, but wavered on the deal as a whole– said Charanya.Within the first few hours of the league’s punishment, the Raptors and Clippers did speak, with both showing interest and intent to move forward with the deal as stipulated.”
The Clippers will add several draft assets — two first-round picks, a trade and two second-rounders — from the Raptors, as well Brandon Ingram and Grady Dickwho have been working out with the Clips throughout the offseason, Charanya noted.
As for Leonard, Charanya called the decision to seek a trade back to Toronto a “pure legacy” for the 35-year-old star, who led the team to its first and only NBA title in 2019. The two-time Finals MVP is said to be in “advanced“discussions with the Raptors about a contract extension.
“He’s coming back to Toronto, a pure Kawhi legacy play– said Charanya.There were teams — ( Pistons, Timberwolves), others — who were interested in trading for him, who wanted to trade for him, who wanted to give him a reprieve.
“But he made the decision, because he had one year left on his contract, basically to weed out where he wanted to play, where he wanted to be. So this is Kawhi Leonard’s legacy play, no doubt about it.”
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- TSN.ca’s Josh Levenberg also heard from sources that the Clippers and Raptors never “thought” about a potential trade, writing that it would be a “bad tone” to do so. Both teams were motivated (for very different reasons) to complete the deal in its original form, and neither had “renegotiation leverage,” Levenberg adds.
- In the latest episode of the in-house team “Open Gym” show.Leonard talked to the head coach Darko Rayakovich about the star ahead Scotty Barnes and showed that he is willing to do whatever it takes to help the Raptors win. “If it’s Scotty’s team, it’s his team“, – said Leonard to Rajakovic. “I want to do my best to help you guys.” Leonard also expressed optimism about Toronto’s chances for a strong season and praised the 2025 lottery pick Colin Murray-Boylestrans Eric Korin of The Athletic. “I think we have a great chance” said Leonard.This band played great last year. I watched them a lot. … You’ve got Scotty Barnes, (he’s) shown his talents over the last two or three years. He became a star. He will be a problem next year. I Love a Young Guy (Colin Murray-Boyles). He brings a lot of energy to the team, shows relentlessness on the court, is not afraid of anyone.”
- Leonard should be vastly superior to Ingram in almost every aspect of the offense, except maybe driving, which he says he doesn’t do often Samson Folk of Raptors Republic. Leonard is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 27.9 points per game, and he is extremely efficient not only in terms of requiring relatively few touches for the best offense, but also because of the variety of ways he scores (pull-ups, pick-and-rolls, layups, transitions), Faulk wrote.
- Courtney Charleslongtime member of basketball operations as both a coach and front office, is parting ways with the Raptors after more than two decades with the organization, Levenberg tweets. Levenberg says Charles was “an important behind-the-scenes cultural legislator” in Toronto.
