Raptors, Kawhi Leonard Engaged In ‘Advanced’ Extension Talks

There has long been an expectation that Leonard and the Raptors would negotiate a new contract once he was officially dealt to Toronto. A report during the first week of July indicated that extension talks were imminent after Leonard hired a new agent – Harrison Gaines – to represent him.

However, the trade agreement between the Clippers and Raptors was put on hold a few days later as the teams awaited the outcome of the NBA’s investigation into whether L.A. circumvented the salary cap to pay Leonard via no-show endorsement deals. The NBA announced the results of that probe earlier this month, and while the league came down hard on the Clippers for violating cap circumvention rules, Leonard didn’t face a suspension or have his contract voided, so Toronto moved forward with the trade on Monday.

The Clippers’ unwillingness to give Leonard the sort of extension he was seeking was said to be one reason why he wanted to be traded entering this offseason.

It’s unclear if the Raptors will go all the way up to the maximum to lock up Kawhi, but after giving up a significant package that included two unprotected first-round picks, they’ll want him to be more than the rental he was in 2018/19. Having been traded from San Antonio to Toronto ahead of that season, the star forward led the Raptors to the first championship in franchise history, then departed for the Clippers as a free agent during the summer of 2019.

The value of Leonard’s current maximum-salary extension is capped by extend-and-trade restrictions and the Over-38 rule, but he can still sign for up to roughly $124MM on a two-year deal. He’ll earn $50.3MM in 2026/27, which is the last year of his current contract.

As Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes, while the Raptors haven’t held a formal press conference to reintroduce Leonard, the 35-year-old spoke in the latest episode of the team’s in-house “Open Gym” show about why he wanted to return to Toronto.

“I’m not really championship chasing. … I didn’t want to put on a thousand jerseys,” Leonard said. “This city took a liking to my family, and I took a liking to this city. I really liked it. My son was born here, and he’s been asking me forever when he’s going to come back. Now he’s back, and he’s able to see it rather than me tell him the great stories that happened.

“… This city always gave me love and showed support from everybody. I’m happy that they love what I did here. I gave this city everything. I was coming in that year (2018/19) injured, and I just gave them my all. Hopefully they embrace me back and (I) give them all again, and we can make something special happen once again.”