Clippers Agreed to Trade Kawhi Leonard to Toronto, ESPN Reports

Los Angeles gets Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, a pick swap and two second-rounders.

The Los Angeles Clippers agreed to trade Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors on June 30, then paused the deal during the NBA's salary-cap investigation. It's being finalized now, ESPN reported, citing sources, in an account KTLA published on Sept. 14, 2026. The completion date is still open.

For anyone holding Clippers season tickets, the math is blunt. The franchise gives up the player at the center of the league's investigation, owes the NBA five future first-round picks as a penalty, and takes back a forward, a young shooting guard and a pile of draft paper.

What Los Angeles receives, per KTLA's report:

• Brandon Ingram
• Gradey Dick, a shooting guard
• Two unprotected first-round picks
• One first-round pick swap
• Two second-round picks

Two unprotected firsts in. Five forfeited firsts out.

The investigation that stopped the deal in the summer ended with the NBA finding that the Clippers deliberately circumvented cap rules to give Leonard extra compensation, and the league's penalties, as KTLA reported them, were a $30 million fine, the forfeiture of five future first-round picks, and a one-year suspension for owner Steve Ballmer.

Ballmer addressed that punishment in a statement he posted online Sunday night, his first public comments since the findings were announced, according to KTLA. He said the Clippers would comply and had paid the fine. "While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus," he said. "Team owners should support, not distract."

He also apologized to fans, employees and other NBA owners, and said he accepts responsibility as principal owner, the outlet reported.

Nothing about the trade itself has been announced by either team in what KTLA relayed; the agreement rests on ESPN's sources. The Associated Press contributed to KTLA's report.

So the status today, four days after that report: a June deal, frozen by an investigation, unfrozen after the penalties landed, and not yet signed off in public. If it closes as described, Leonard plays in Toronto and the Clippers build around Ingram and Dick while paying off the league's bill in draft picks they've already lost.

Ballmer says the $30 million is paid. The five first-rounders are gone either way.