$115 Million Extension Keeps Kawhi in Toronto

Photo: NBA.com. Official Kawhi Leonard headshot.

Kawhi Leonard agreed to a two-year, $115 million contract extension with the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.

The deal carries a player option for the 2028-29 season, locking the All-NBA forward into a second Toronto stint after the Clippers trade cleared earlier this month, his agent Harrison Gaines of SLASH Sports told ESPN.

Leonard still has 2026-27 at $50.3 million remaining on the three-year, $149.5 million Clippers extension he signed in 2024. ESPN frames the Raptors commitment at three years and $165 million once that remaining season sits under the new ink. Bobby Marks had him eligible for up to two years and $123.7 million. Jake Fischer and NBC Sports put the ceiling near $126 million. Shams reported Leonard took $11 million under the max number and had already waived a $7.45 million trade kicker to clear the Sep. 14 move. Year-by-year splits have not been published. The confirmed board is $115 million over two years plus the 2028-29 player option.

The option is the basketball hinge. Cap writer Yossi Gozlan noted Leonard is limited to three total years in an extension that already includes 2026-27, and the player option stages a possible 2027 re-sign for up to four years. At 35, with a long injury file, that structure buys both sides an off-ramp without chaining Toronto to a rigid max through the end of the decade. Leaving roughly $11 million on the table, per Shams, is the price of keeping apron room around Scottie Barnes and the rest of a rising sheet.

Barnes already bends the strong-side help. Leonard posted a career-high 27.9 points last season across 65 starts, with 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists, and earned All-Star and All-NBA honors. Put that wing next to Barnes and the help timing changes. Closeouts become traps instead of rotations that arrive a beat late. Gradey Dick and Brandon Ingram went the other way in the Sep. 14 package that also moved two unprotected firsts, a first-round swap, and two seconds. Toronto paid that capital for a wing who can still create his own shot and guard the best forward on the other sheet. The extension says the franchise is not treating that wing as a one-year rental.

Load management is the other half of the number. Sixty-five starts at age 34 was the high watermark Toronto bought. At 35, the minutes plan has to protect April and May. The player option gives Leonard a walk-away if the body holds and gives Toronto cover if the file lengthens. Eastern Conference contention still runs through Cleveland, New York, and whoever survives the middle tier. A healthy Leonard-Barnes frontcourt raises Toronto into that conversation. A 50-game Leonard does not. The contract prices the healthier version and keeps an exit if the knee or the load says otherwise.

The Sep. 2 NBA ruling found the Clippers violated salary-cap rules. Steve Ballmer took a one-year suspension and a $30 million fine, with five first-round picks stripped. Leonard paid $700,000 in restitution. Uncle Dennis Robertson drew a five-year ban from NBA business. Leonard kept the contract, which is why the trade path opened and Gaines of SLASH Sports could finish the extension Tuesday. That chapter is closed for the basketball decision that followed.

Leonard won Finals MVP in Toronto in 2019. He is back for the second stint with new representation after the Robertson ban. The $115 million plus the option is the franchise saying the wing next to Barnes is worth the next three seasons of book, not a rental waiting on free agency.

Photo: NBAE via Getty Images, from NBA.com. Kawhi Leonard dribbles in a Clippers jersey.

Sources

• Shams Charania / ESPN. Two-year, $115 million extension plus 2028-29 player option. Agent Harrison Gaines, SLASH Sports. Three years / $165 million total Raptors book. $11 million under max. Waived $7.45 million trade kicker. Career-high 27.9 PPG in 65 games. Sep 22, 2026, 3:15 p.m. ET.
• Shams Charania on X. Same confirmation, 19:12 UTC / ~2:12 p.m. CT, Sep 22, 2026.
• Yossi Gozlan on X. Roughly $9 million under max allowable. Three-year extension limit includes 2026-27. Player option stages potential 2027 re-sign up to four years. Sep 22, 2026.
• ESPN / Bobby Marks via Shams. Eligible up to two-year, $123.7 million extension. $50.3 million remaining. Gaines hire. Jul 6, 2026.
• NBC Sports / Kurt Helin citing Jake Fischer. Eligible max ~two years, $126 million. $50.3 million remaining on 3yr/$149.5M. 27.9 / 6.4 / 38.7% from three in 65 games. Sep 17, 2026.
• TSN. Trade package Ingram, Dick, two unprotected firsts, one swap, two seconds. Sep 2 ruling: Ballmer 1yr / $30M / five FRPs; Leonard $700k; Robertson five-year ban. 27.9 / 6.4 / 3.6. Finals MVP 2019. Sep 17, 2026.
• ESPN trade completion. Trade official after pause. Package details. Trade-kicker waiver.
• Photos: NBA.com Leonard headshot 202695; NBA.com kawhi-iso-063026.