Kawhi Leonard is staying in Toronto for the foreseeable future. The NBA champion wing has agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $115 million with the Raptors, with a player option for the 2028-29 season, according to ESPN and confirmed by sources to USA Today Sports.
The deal comes eight days after the trade that sent Leonard from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Raptors was officially completed, closing out a summer dominated by the NBA's investigation into the circumstances of his departure. The probe, opened in September 2025 after journalist Pablo Torre reported on a $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration — a company into which investors connected to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had funnelled money — concluded that the Clippers had orchestrated "a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations."
The investigation's fallout was severe for the Los Angeles franchise: five first-round picks were stripped, a $30 million fine was levied, and Ballmer was suspended for one year. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank received a six-month unpaid suspension, while Dennis Robertson, Leonard's uncle and business manager, was banned from dealing with NBA teams for five years. Leonard himself was fined $700,000, but was not suspended and his contract was not voided.
The extension represents a discount relative to Leonard's maximum salary. Having just been traded, he was capped at a 20 percent raise in the first year of the new deal. Had he waited six months, he would have been eligible for a true maximum closer to $128 million. In exchange for that modest financial concession, the Raptors granted him the player option for 2028-29, when Leonard will be 37.
The two-year limitation is dictated by the NBA's over-38 rule, which prevents multi-year contracts that extend beyond a player's 38th birthday. However, Leonard will be free to negotiate a new multi-year deal in 2028, provided he still commands the value to justify one.
At 35, Leonard "expects" to finish his career in Toronto, per ESPN. This time he has committed for more than one season, unlike his previous stint in the Canadian city, when he departed after leading the Raptors to the franchise's first NBA championship in 2019.
The Raptors returned to the playoffs last season after a three-year drought and pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the first round despite several serious injuries. The price of the trade — which sent away Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 pick swap, and second-round picks in 2030 and 2033 — underscores the franchise's commitment to building a title contender. With a young, deep roster around him, the expectation is that this gamble will deliver another championship to Toronto.
Sources
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/kawhi-leonard-toronto-raptors-contract-extension/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/raptors/2026/09/22/kawhi-leonard-contract-extension-raptors-details/91892708007/
