The NBA has officially handed out punishments to the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard. Steven Ballmer was issued a year-long suspension and a hefty $30 million fine. Moreover, the Clippers were stripped of first-round picks in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033. Leonard, meanwhile, has to pay a $700,000 fine but faces no suspension.
The latter is excellent news for the Raptors. Since Leonard’s availability for the 2026-27 season won’t be impacted, they can finally move forward with the trade to bring him back to Toronto in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and some draft capital.
The punishment could also help them in other ways. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie outlined on the September 3 episode of the Game Theory Podcast that because the Clippers lost so many draft picks, they could be willing to take on bad contracts in exchange for draft capital. That could help the Raptors move Jakob Poeltl’s massive contract if they find it necessary to do so at the trade deadline.
“The superpower Steve Ballmer has here is he has the ability if he wants to—because even though he’s not allowed around everything, he’s still the one cutting the checks at the end of the day,” Vecenie said. “He should really just say, ‘Hey, whatever deal, whatever bad terrible contract that you think we can take back, if you want to take back the Jakob Poeltl contract from the Toronto Raptors and the Raptors are willing to give you a first-round pick for it, yeah, we’re willing to do it.’”
He also suggested Rui Hachimura and Max Strus for Poeltl and a first-round pick as a potential trade deadline deal that would help the Raptors add 3-point shooting and allow the Clippers to recover some of the draft capital they lost.
Having options to move Poeltl’s contract will be valuable for the Raptors
The Raptors don’t necessarily have to rush into a Poeltl trade during the season. There’s a world in which he bounces back from last season’s struggles and puts together a solid season. There’s also a world in which the Raptors simply can’t find an upgrade and still need him to save Collin Murray-Boyles from playing too many minutes as an undersized center in just his second NBA season. Murray-Boyles has shown that he can be effective as a small-ball five, but asking him to battle with bigger players in the paint all the time would put a lot on his body.
Still, knowing that there are options to move his contract would go a long way. At the end of the day, once Kawhi Leonard becomes a Raptor again, upgrading the center position appears to be one of the things the front office must do to build a serious contender around Leonard and Barnes.
Ideally, the Raptors don’t want to give up a draft pick to move Poeltl’s contract, but considering his age, last season’s struggles, and how tricky back injuries are, they may not be able to avoid it.
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