The Predators and a newcomer Kawhi Leonard according to The Stein Line’s Jake Fisher (Link to Twitter), which reports that the parties are in “advanced” discussions.
Leonard and the Raptors had long been expected to negotiate a new contract once he was officially traded to Toronto. Report during the first week of July indicated that extension talks are imminent after Leonard hired a new agent – Harrison Gaines – to represent him.
However, there was a trade agreement between the Clippers and the Raptors put off days later, as teams awaited the results of an NBA investigation into whether Los Angeles went over the salary cap to pay Leonard through no-show agreements. The NBA announced the results of that investigation earlier this monthand while the league came down hard on the Clippers for violating the restriction circumvention rules, Leonard did not face suspension or termination of his contract, so Toronto moved forward in trade on Monday.
The Clippers’ reluctance to give Leonard the extension he sought was said to be part of the reason he wanted to trade him this offseason.
It’s unclear if the Raptors will go all out to lock up Kawhi, but after giving up a hefty package that included two unprotected first-round picks, they’ll want him to be more than the rental he was in 2018-19. After being traded from San Antonio to Toronto earlier this season, the star forward led the Raptors to their first championship in franchise history before moving to the Clippers as a free agent in the summer of 2019.
The value of Leonard’s current salary cap extension is limited restrictions on expansion and trade and Ruled for more than 38 yearsbut he could still sign a two-year deal worth around $124 million. He will make $50.3 million in 2026-27, the final year of his current contract.
How Eric Korin of The Athletic writes, while the Raptors didn’t hold an official press conference to reintroduce Leonard, the 35-year-old spoke at the team’s latest internal meeting “Open Gym” show. about why he wanted to return to Toronto.
“I’m not really chasing championships… I didn’t want to wear a thousand T-shirts,” – said Leonard. “My family loved this city and I loved this city. I loved it. My son was born here and he kept asking me when he was coming back. Now he’s back and he can see it instead of me telling him the big stories that happened.
“…This city has always loved me and supported everyone. I’m happy that they like what I’ve done here. I gave everything to this city. I came into that year (2018/19) injured and I just gave them everything I had. Hopefully they’ll accept me back and (I’ll) give them everything again and we can do something special again.”
