Yes, we are back for more Kawhi Leonard trade buzz. The chatter hasn't stopped from a increasingly suspense weekend that indicated Toronto and Los Angeles were in active talks to execute a trade, after news first caught fire around the draft festivities last week.
Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line would deliver some fresh insights on the Kawhi–Raptors reunion talks in a late-night follow-up offseason intel piece. The NBA insiders touched upon another key development in these red-hot trade discussions, on top of yesterday's news regarding the link of RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram in a hypothetical deal.
Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick reportedly at the center of Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard trade plans
Stein and Fischer would reveal (subscription-required link here): "Dialogue between the teams continued Sunday, league sources say, with the Clippers naturally trying to extract more than has been offered if they indeed are parting with their Face of the Franchise, while the Raptors remain adamant about trying to build a deal — which also would naturally include a level of draft capital — around scoring forward Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick rather than Canadian-born swingman RJ Barrett."
It appears there is a bit of back and forth in the Kawhi Leonard package, as Los Angeles is looking to maximize their best-possible return to let go of the freshly-turned 35-year-old superstar, while Toronto (in their classic form) are trying to swing the ultimate bargain deal. And based on those trade chips listed, aside from the insider's note of draft assets likely going out in the deal too, it is perhaps the Raptors' most economical and low-risk path to reclaiming the Klaw.
Last week, I wrote about how eyes were on Toronto's trio of widely-believed expendable starters, that being Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl, as potentially spearheading a Kawhi deal. That direction could give Toronto an out on some of their current negative assets, but in the last 48 hours, the conversations have shifted now to Brandon Ingram likely headlining such trade — at least to the best interests of Toronto.
Gradey Dick is another asset whose future in Toronto has been more centered on finding him a change of scenery than continuing his Raptors journey. When you combine two assets in BI and Dick, both of whom are not incredibly huge losses at the cost of reacquiring Kawhi Leonard, the deal looks a whole lot better for the Raptors.
Though, let's not forget, even though these discussions dominated the recent weekend headlines and into the start of this week — it seems like the true package to appease Los Angeles is still in its preliminary and exploratory discussions.
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