Kawhi Leonard only spent a single season with the Toronto Raptors, but it was a very successful one.
Leonard led his team to a championship, but then left for the Los Angeles Clippers right after that.
Now, new reporting states that the Raptors thought they had a good chance at bringing Leonard back to Toronto, partly because the Los Angeles Lakers were unattractive due to LeBron James being in the lineup.
“The Raptors believed there was a real chance he would return instead of going to the Clippers despite the lure of Leonard’s home state of California. Leonard didn’t want to play with LeBron James, so the Lakers were a third wheel in the sweepstakes,” via Bruce Arthur.
Kawhi Leonard didn’t sign with the Lakers in 2019 because he didn’t want to play with LeBron James 😬
“The Raptors believed there was a real chance he would return instead of going to the Clippers despite the lure of Leonard’s home state of California. Leonard didn’t want to… pic.twitter.com/bI7ZKU5RCw
— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) September 10, 2025
The Raptors knew that Leonard wanted to move back to his home state of California, but they didn’t feel the Clippers would be able to get a deal done.
In the end, they were able to shock the league by acquiring both Leonard and Paul George with one of the biggest offseason moves in recent memory.
It’s not clear why Leonard didn’t want to play with James, but perhaps it’s because he would have had to share the spotlight with him.
It’s hard to get out from under James’ popularity, and he runs any team he’s a part of.
If Leonard wanted to be the Lakers’ top option, he would have been disappointed if he were next to James.
The Raptors thought they were going to get Leonard again, but they were wrong.
He moved on to the Clippers, where he remains to this day.
However, a recent report about Leonard’s contract with the Clippers has put everything into jeopardy.
For such a soft-spoken person, Leonard is getting a lot of loud headlines lately.
NEXT: Clippers Could Make Shocking Move With Kawhi Leonard