With the Kawhi Leonard trade put on hold, the Raptors and Clippers are in limbo with no idea who will be on their rosters next season, and, for the Raptors, what the backup plan is if the trade falls through. Leonard was in Toronto for Kyle Lowry’s retirement announcement and made an appearance at summer league, fully embracing the expectation that he will be a Raptor next season.
Likewise, Marc Stein reported on the All NBA Podcast on July 17, “Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick, they’ve already been operating as if they’re Clippers.”
Ingram and Dick are two of the biggest losers of this whole mess. They got caught in an alleged salary-cap circumvention situation they certainly have nothing to do with.
Dick’s time with the Raptors seemed destined to end when he fell out of the rotation this past season. Being included in the trade and landing with a Clippers team that’s embracing a younger direction could be the fresh start he needs. Now, it’s uncertain if he’ll get that fresh start or if he’ll have to go back to a team that offers little opportunity for him to break into the rotation. Ingram, meanwhile, would have a big role to go back to if the trade falls through, but he also knows that the Raptors don’t really want him to fill that role. That’s just a recipe for disaster.
The Raptors can only hope that both can actually become Clippers and that they don’t have to deal with all the awkwardness that would come with taking them back if the trade falls through.
There’s still optimism
As of now, there’s no clear timeline for when the investigation into the Clippers and Leonard will wrap up. Adam Silver expects it to be done this summer, but it could still take weeks.
Nevertheless, Zach Lowe recently reported on the Zach Lowe Show that he’s still hearing “optimism” that the trade will go through as planned with Leonard returning to Toronto and Ingram and Dick finding a new home in LA.
Waiting all summer on a resolution isn’t great—it’s even interfering with other offseason business around the league—but the Raptors don’t have much of a choice anymore. There is no clear backup plan for them, as several other stars they could have been interested in were already moved, and they need to keep up with the teams around them in the Eastern Conference that are getting better.
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