KAWHI Leonard

Leonard's 2025-26 season, his final year with the Clippers, was one of his more efficient scoring years. He shot 50.5 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from three and 89.2 percent from the line, good for a 62.9 true shooting mark. He posted a 32.6 usage rate and averaged 32.1 minutes a night, finishing at plus-5.2 in on-court net rating over 65 games. He also averaged 1.9 steals, 0.4 blocks and 2.0 turnovers a game. Those numbers, especially the efficiency on high usage, are why Toronto is building expectations around him even at 35. Everything above is from last season with the Clippers, not his output in a Raptors uniform yet.

Leonard is not on the injury report right now. His file over the past two weeks shows a pattern of rest management rather than a specific injury: he was listed Day-To-Day for reasons not related to injury on October 3, cleared on October 12, tagged Day-To-Day for rest on October 16, and cleared again on October 17. There is no new designation beyond that. For a 35-year-old entering his 15th season, those rest days look like standard load management ahead of the schedule rather than a flare-up of anything serious. Nothing in his file points to a specific body part or a multi-week absence.

Leonard has been in and out of the lineup in October. He did not play in the loss to Miami on October 3 or the loss to Detroit on October 16, both logged at 0.0 minutes. In between, he scored 6 points in 22.6 minutes in a loss to New York on October 15, then 21 points and 5 rebounds in just 16.7 minutes in a win over New York two days earlier on October 13. Going back to the end of last season with the Clippers, he closed strong: 34 points in a win over Dallas on April 7, 26 points in a win over Sacramento on April 5, and 24 points in losses to Portland on April 10 and San Antonio on April 2.

The move that reportedly brought Leonard to Toronto surfaced in stages. A September 18 Raptors notes roundup linked Leonard to a 'Clips trade' angle alongside forward Scottie Barnes. On September 22, Shams Charania reported the Raptors and Leonard had agreed to a two-year contract extension. Two days later, a report from Webster touched on Leonard, trade assets and center Jakob Poeltl. As recently as October 13, Leonard's name turned up again in wider Eastern Conference notes, grouped with Hezonja, Watson, Haliburton and the Hornets. Outside the extension report, none of that is confirmed — the other names and moves tied to him remain speculation for now.