Kawhi Leonard is leaving the Raptors for the Los Angeles Clippers: multiple reports
Posted July 5, 2019 11:16 pm.
Last Updated July 6, 2019 9:57 am.
TORONTO (Sportsnet) — Kawhi Leonard is set to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to multiple reports.
Free agent forward Kawhi Leonard has informed runners-up teams of his plans: He's signing with the Clippers, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
Kawhi Leonard has agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 6, 2019
Free agent forward Kawhi Leonard will sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 6, 2019
Leonard waded into the 2019 off-season as one of the top unrestricted free agents on the market after playing one season with the Toronto Raptors in which he averaged 26.6 points and 7.3 rebounds on 49.6-per cent shooting through 60 games played. That sterling campaign helped lead Toronto to its first-ever NBA title, earning Leonard his second Finals MVP in the process.
The 28-year-old came to the Raptors from the San Antonio Spurs — in the blockbuster deal that sent former franchise icon DeMar DeRozan headed west — under contract for the 2018-19 season with a player option on his contract for 2019-20, which Leonard declined.
Leonard finished the 2018-19 campaign with the sixth-highest points per game pace in the league. He added 732 total points over the course of Toronto’s post-season run — with that high-water mark ranking as the most of any 2019 post-season player, the most in Raptors franchise history, and the third-most all-time in NBA history (trailing only Michael Jordan’s 759 in 1992 and LeBron James’ 748 in 2018).
In doing so, Leonard became the 12th player in league history to win multiple Finals MVP awards, and just the third to earn a Finals MVP nod with multiple teams.
