Sources: Clippers, Raptors in trade talks for Kawhi Leonard

The LA Clippers and Toronto Raptors are seriously engaged in trade talks for All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard, sources told ESPN.

LA and Toronto discussed a deal over the past couple of weeks, as Leonard's reps informed other teams he only wanted to sign an extension with the Raptors if the Clippers were not going to keep him, sources said. He had preferred to stay with the Clippers, but the franchise made no long-term commitment to him this offseason, sources said. Leonard has only the 2026-27 season left on his contract at $50.3 million.

The deal would mark a return to Canada for the star who led the Raptors to an NBA title in 2019, winning Finals MVP after he averaged 28.5 points in their series win over the Golden State Warriors. Leonard, who was traded to the Raptors by the San Antonio Spurs in July 2018, played just one season in Toronto, then left as a free agent to join the Clippers. The two-time Finals MVP turns 35 on Monday.

Leonard has been a three-time All-Star for the Clippers and is coming off a career year in which he averaged 27.9 points and played 65 regular-season games. It was just his second season with at least 60 games played since his 2018-19 season in Toronto. He finished seventh in MVP voting and was named to the All-NBA second team, his fourth All-NBA honor with LA. The Clippers, however, went 42-40 and lost in the play-in tournament to the Warriors.

The trade would be a pivot for the Clippers and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, who said at his end-of-season news conference in April that he wanted to keep Leonard.

"Our plan is to win with Kawhi," he said. "We obviously showed as an organization that we want to continue and we are driven to win. So at the appropriate time, we'll sit down with Kawhi, and very similar to 2024, lay out our plan. And if our goals are aligned, then we'd like to win with Kawhi."

The Clippers are also under investigation by the NBA on whether they circumvented the salary cap by funneling money to Leonard through his $28 million endorsement deal with green banking company Aspiration, which also had a $300 million, 23-year endorsement deal with the team. Team owner Steve Ballmer, who invested $60 million in Aspiration, has denied he had knowledge of Leonard's deal.

Leonard and his uncle and business adviser Dennis Robertson have been interviewed by investigators as part of the league's inquiry, according to sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said before the NBA Finals began that it was time to "wrap [the investigation] up."

"The investigation has been conducted by a law firm independent of the NBA," Silver said on June 3. "Yes, ultimately we're paying their bills, but they are doing the work independent of the league office, and my instruction to them is we can't be investigating forever, but at some point, we have to wrap it up. But at the same time, the most important thing is that we get it right."

For the Raptors, a trade for Leonard would be an attempt to get back into the top tier of the Eastern Conference. They have won just one playoff series since Leonard left (in 2020) and finished 40-36 last season, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliersin seven games in the first round of the playoffs.

If the Leonard trade goes through, he will immediately become eligible to sign up to a two-year, $123.7 million extension with his new team, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.br/]