Toronto was right to bring Kawhi Leonard back. The bill arrives in 2031

The Toronto Raptors made the right call when they traded for Kawhi Leonard. I say that knowing he is 35, knowing how many games he has missed, and knowing exactly what they paid. The case against the trade is real. It is just about the wrong years.

The deal is simple to state. Toronto sent Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round swap and second-round picks in 2030 and 2033 to the LA Clippers. Leonard then signed a two-year, $115 million extension that starts after this season and runs through 2028-29, with a player option in the last year.

What Toronto got

Start with last season, because it is the only season we can check. Leonard played 65 games for the Clippers, scored 27.9 points a game and shot 62.9% true shooting. In our Top 100 for 2026-27, built from 2025-26 box scores, he is No. 4.

Ingram is No. 41. He played 77 games for Toronto and averaged 21.5 points. Dick played 76 games but only 14.0 minutes a night, and averaged 6.0 points.

That team went 46-36, finished fifth in the East, and lost a seven-game first-round series to Cleveland. A team that close does not need a rebuild. It needs a better best player, and the Raptors went and got one.

The objection, taken seriously

The strongest case against the trade is that Leonard does not play enough. It deserves a straight answer, so here are his games since 2017-18: 9, 60, 57, 52, none, 52, 68, 37 and 65. That is two seasons of 65 or more in nine. Two of those seasons were shortened, but he also missed all of 2021-22.

So run the trade on his bad years. Our list cuts a player's score when he plays fewer than 65 games. Keep Leonard's 2025-26 level and give him 50 games, and he ranks 12th. Give him 37, his total in 2024-25, and he ranks 25th. Ingram, at 77 games, ranked 41st.

That is the part the age argument misses. Toronto did not need Leonard to stay healthy to come out ahead of Ingram on our list. It needed him to be good when he plays, and at 35 he still was. Age is not a wall in our numbers either. Kevin Durant, now 38, is No. 12. James Harden, 37, is No. 14. LeBron James, 41, is No. 21.

The fair limit on all of this: 2025-26 is one season, and nothing in it promises 2026-27. If Leonard's level drops as well as his games, the sums above get worse.

Where the bill really is

The objection I cannot answer is the picks. The 2031 and 2033 drafts come after the last year of Leonard's contract. Whatever he gives Toronto, he will have finished giving it by then. Unprotected means Los Angeles gets those picks however good or bad the Raptors are. If Toronto is bad in 2031 and 2033, they could be high picks.

That is a real cost. It is also the right kind of cost for a team that just won 46 games. Toronto spent its distant future, which nobody can price, on its near future, which it can.

Toronto announced Leonard as a player to build toward the next championship with. That sets the test, and it is the right one.

What Toronto should do now

Judge this trade by the next three springs, not by October. Plan for 50 to 60 Leonard games, not 75, and build the rotation so the season survives the other 25. Spend the minutes he is out on players who will still be here in 2031, because that is when the bill comes.

A second-round exit with Leonard would mean the Raptors overpaid. A deep run in 2027, 2028 or 2029 would mean the 2031 pick was cheap. I think Toronto made the trade a contending team should make, and the next three seasons will tell us if I am right.