Timeline: Kawhi Leonard’s road to, from and back to Toronto
The Toronto Raptors acquired Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green from the San Antonio Spurs in July 2018, trading DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a protected first-round draft pick. Leonard made his Raptors debut on October 17, 2018, scoring 24 points in a 116-104 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers. His memorable "What it do, baby?" greeting at the championship parade in June 2019 drew over two million attendees.
Leonard left Toronto in July 2019, signing with the Los Angeles Clippers. He missed the entire 2021-22 season due to surgery on a torn ACL. In 2025-26, despite injuries, Leonard averaged a career-high 27.9 points in 65 games. The Raptors traded for Leonard on September 14, 2026, after the NBA cleared him of any wrongdoing in a salary-cap circumvention investigation.
Written by urgent.news from Winnipeg Free Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 2 other outlets
- Timeline: Kawhi Leonard’s road to, from and back to Toronto toronto.citynews.ca
- CP NewsAlert: Raptors-Clippers deal sending Leonard back to Toronto made official winnipegfreepress.com
