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Kawhi Leonard clears health protocols, set to make long-awaited Raptors return
Kawhi Leonard will play for the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday for the first time since winning the 2019 NBA championship with the franchise, head coach Darko Rajakovic confirmed Monday. Leonard passed through practice and was deemed available after the Raptors held him out of their first two preseason contests to manage his load during the early-season ramp-up.
“Yes, he went through practice today,” Rajakovic said. “He’s feeling great. So yes, he’s going to be available for the game tomorrow.”
The return carries symbolic weight—and high expectations
Leonard’s absence from Toronto for seven years after the 2019 Finals run created a narrative void the franchise never quite filled. He departed at the peak of his powers, and the Raptors spent the intervening seasons cycling through lottery-luck swings and mid-tier competitive cycles. The offseason trade that brought him back—a blockbuster package involving Gradey Dick and Brandon Ingram—signals the front office’s conviction that Leonard can be the centerpiece of a new window. Dick, who appeared against his former team, the Clippers, in Saturday’s preseason game, logged 13 minutes in that contest while Leonard and Ingram remained sidelined.
Dick’s own status in Los Angeles is worth monitoring. The fourth-year guard, who spent his first three NBA seasons with Toronto before the trade, faces a Monday deadline to sign a rookie scale extension or enter restricted free agency next summer. He will enter the regular season in a contract year, competing for rotation minutes under Clippers coach Tyronn Lue.
Gradey Dick’s exile and the broader cost of the Kawhi trade
The trade calculus extends beyond Leonard’s health and readiness. Dick described his return to Crypto.com Arena as “bittersweet”—a telling phrase for a prospect who exited Toronto after the front office determined Leonard and Ingram were the higher-ceiling players. Dick’s development trajectory now depends on proving he can shoot at the 38-to-39 percent clip Lue has demanded, a margin that separates rotation viability from bench obscurity in modern NBA lineups. Lue’s summer conversation with Dick about hitting 40 percent from three-point range reflects the precision required for a fourth-year wing to justify a roster spot in a contender-caliber rotation. If Dick fails to reach that threshold, the Raptors’ gamble on the Leonard-Ingram pairing will have cost them not just cap flexibility but a player with upside.
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