The Kawhi Leonard era is over in Los Angeles after seven years, with the Clippers trading Kawhi to the Toronto Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first round picks in 2031 and 2033, a first round pick swap this year, and second round picks in 2030 and 2033. That is honestly quite a haul for Kawhi, who has one year left on his deal, is 35 years old, and has an infamous injury history.
Let’s talk about the players coming the Clippers’ way. Brandon Ingram is 28 years old (29 in September), and has played in the NBA for 10 seasons, making two All Star teams (including last year). He’s averaged over 20 points per game each of the past seven seasons, and has done so on reasonably good efficiency. Ingram’s rebounding and assist numbers are also solid – he’s someone that will definitely produce raw stats. Advanced statistics have always been less favorable to Ingram; something about his game just does not translate to impacting actually winning games as much as it should. Still, he’s a good player signed for an expensive but not awful deal ($40M this year, $41.3M player option next year) that can help keep the Clippers competent.
Gradey Dick was the 13th pick in the 2023 Draft, and has spent the first three seasons of his career on the Raptors. Billed as a shooter with potential upside for off-the-dribble scoring, Dick shot decently his first two seasons before his shot deserted him this past year. He has good size for the kind of player archetype he is, coming in at 6’7 and over 200 pounds, and thus can guard wings acceptably enough despite being a bad overall defender. Dick has one year left on his rookie-scale contract, which would make him a restricted free agent next summer if the Clippers tend him a qualifying offer. He’s not a nothing part of this deal, but he was definitely mostly in it just for salary – I find it unlikely much comes of him.
The picks are where this trade really shines. The Clippers were able to negotiate the Raptors up from just one first round picks to two first rounders in addition to the swap and the two second round picks. They also got the Raptors to send two far-out picks in the 2030s. This can be a double-edged sword, as the entire league, CBA, and draft could be different by then, but generally getting further out picks is a good thing because there’s less certainty. The swap next year is also interesting, as it means the Clippers will get the second-best of their own, Raptors, and Thunder’s picks. The Raptors and Thunder will very likely be better than the Clippers, but the Thunder’s pick will probably be 28-30, and the Raptors pick will probably be a bit lower than that, so the Clippers will get a somewhat better pick next year as well.
While it would have been nice if the Clippers could have gotten more picks, or gotten a more interesting young guy than Dick (Ja’Kobe Walter or Jamal Shead), this is ultimately a pretty good package for Kawhi considering all of the factors mentioned above. At no point since he tore his ACL in 2021 could a Kawhi package have looked this good – he was out all of 2022, injured and not himself in 2023, ended 2024 injured, and was out a lot of the 2025 regular season. Thus, the Clippers sold high on Kawhi in the end, even though you could argue for them keeping him to remain competitive until they get their own picks back in 2030.
The Clippers now have a decent number of picks in the door between this deal, the Zu trade, and the Harden trade, in addition to their 2026 draft class. While it might not be a full rebuild, the trade of Kawhi officially marks a new phase of the Clippers’ franchise, a hopefully relatively quick reset that can have them back in contention in the late 2020s. For now, this team will likely not be very good, but it should be competitive, at least, and has some real upside with all of the youngsters.
A more lengthy look at Kawhi’s tenure on the team and the overall Kawhi era will come later in the summer, but for now, sayonara to Kawhi, and hello to Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick. With the Kawhi move over, attention will now turn towards Bennedict Mathurin and John Collins’ free agency.