The Raptors announced earlier this week that Kawhi Leonard would miss at least one week due to swelling in his left knee, but NBA insider Chris Haynes reported on Thursday that the former LA Clippers forward is expected to miss at least three to four weeks.
Toronto said at least one week, which, of course, doesn't mean just one week. And ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Leonard was expected to miss a "period" of weeks. It seemed safe to assume Kawhi would miss multiple weeks, given his age and history of knee trouble.
Perhaps the Raptors were trying to be optimistic, considering they sent the Clippers Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks for Leonard. Not long after the trade finally became official, Toronto agreed to sign him to a two-year, $115 million extension.
The pressure is on for the Raptors to win another championship with Leonard, and one week into the season, they're already feeling the downside of bringing him back to Canada.
They paid more to reunite with him in 2026 than they did to get him from the Spurs in 2018. It worked well for them then, but he's 35 now. Leonard is still capable of looking like a top player in the league, but injury concerns only grow with time.
Kawhi Leonard will be out for several weeks
If you're an LA fan, you probably don't think all that highly of Leonard anymore, given how things ended between him and the Clippers. The NBA didn't suspend him for a role he apparently didn't play because he wasn't aware of it in the cap-circumvention scandal. He was fined only $700,000, a life-changing amount for an ordinary person, but it didn't compare to the extra millions he "earned" from his off-court deals.
The reality is the Clippers weren't going anywhere with Leonard, so getting so much in return from the Raptors was miraculous. It made a bad situation for LA look better and increased the stakes for Toronto.
The Raptors aren't strangers to gambling on Kawhi, as they did when they first traded for him without any commitment from him to be in Toronto. That didn't change, not even after they won a championship. They have that commitment now, but it could also be their downfall: committing that kind of money to an aging star after giving up part of their future to get him.
It must have felt good for the Raptors to know Leonard specifically wanted to leave LA for Toronto, since it isn't a destination for star-level talent. Their fans have been riding that high ever since, to the point that it feels like they've forgotten exactly who they traded for, but that's not the case anymore now that Kawhi will miss several weeks.
There is always a level of risk in trading for a star, but for the Raptors, it's much higher than it was eight years ago. And if Toronto hadn't already realized that, it certainly is now.
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