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Hopefully the former Raptors superstar is able to suit up on Friday.
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Published Jan 15, 2026 • 4 minute read
Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers are in Toronto to take on the Raptors on Friday night. Photo by Sean M. Haffey /Getty Images
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There’s a long list of stars that Canadian basketball fans have missed out on seeing in Toronto so far this season. Let’s hope Kawhi Leonard won’t be on it.
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Leonard, the player who led the Raptors to the only championship in franchise history with one of the most dominant playoff runs in NBA history, has been listed as questionable for the lone visit of the season by the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Over the first 22 home games, fans at least once missed seeing the likes of Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, Paul George, Trae Young, Ja Morant, Jaylen Brown, Franz Wagner, Fred VanVleet, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.
Leonard had been a game-time decision Wednesday at home against Washington, but not only suited up, dominated the Wizards. He scored 33 points, including 11 straight at one point in the fourth quarter, on the way to a win, the eighth in the last 10 games for a resurgent Clippers team that started the year 6-21, but has gone 11-2 since.
Leonard has averaged a career-best 28.2 points per game in 30 games (missing 10 after playing in only 37 last season) and has been north of 30 a game in recent weeks, coinciding with the team’s winning stretch. He’s also leading the league at 94.1% from the free throw line and is just shy of 50% from the field and 40% on three-point attempts. He also leads all with 2.2 steals and is on pace to make an All-NBA team and all-star appearance for just the second time since leaving Toronto for Los Angeles seven seasons ago.
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He was under a minutes restriction for his game at Toronto last season and looked rusty, scoring 14 points on 6-for-18 shooting. That was his first loss as a visitor at Toronto since 2015 when he was still with San Antonio.
That one ended up being Leonard’s worst game in 2024-25 and he started gearing up from there. A month later he was back in all-star form and by April, during a classic seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets, Leonard served notice of what would come this season by averaging 25 points on 54% shooting.
It’s a random wrinkle of the schedule that after two home dates where franchise icon Kyle Lowry was welcomed back and a win over Lowry and Leonard’s running mate Pascal Siakam Wednesday, Leonard will be back in town Friday.
He won’t get the welcome Lowry got, probably ever, but expect an ovation if Leonard does indeed suit up and get introduced before the game.
Injury ward still crowded
Toronto has its own list of banged up players. Starting shooting guard RJ Barrett (left ankle sprain), will miss his fourth straight game and 20th of the last 26 due to various injuries. Toronto is 16-7 when Barrett plays.
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Starting centre Jakob Poeltl (back) is out for the 14th time in the last 15 games (Toronto’s 13-8 when Poeltl starts) and Ja’Kobe Walter, who has made strides and had been filling in for Barrett, remains out with a hip pointer. Starting point guard Immanuel Quickley (back spasms) and top reserve big man Sandro Mamukelashvili (illness) missed the Pacers game and have been listed as questionable.
Reserve wing Jamison Battle is doubtful with an ankle sprain after leaving the last game early and veteran guard Garrett Temple is questionable.
Nobody asked me
Nobody asked me, but trading for either Anthony Davis or Ja Morant would be bad, maybe even disastrous ideas for the Raptors.
There’s been some buzz that ownership is putting pressure on the Toronto front office to make another big splash after landing Brandon Ingram last year, but these moves would be big-time belly flops.
Davis is an all-time great, I’ve been covering him since high school, when he dominated the McDonald’s All-American game and was lucky enough to be there for his dominant Final Four that brought Kentucky its first NCAA title in ages, but his nickname is “Street Clothes” for a reason. He is almost always hurt and has averaged 57.6 games played per year over 14 seasons, but only 20 this year, just 51 last and 76, 56 and 40 before that. He’s also currently hurt, about to turn 33 and eager to sign a potentially franchise-crippling max contract.
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Morant’s age (26) and lower theoretical price tag might make him a bit better of a fit, but why? He’s been about as injury-ravaged as Davis in recent years and unlike Davis, brings off-court drama to the table and a brutal attitude that doesn’t feel like a good mix for one of the most upbeat locker rooms in the NBA. Yes, Darko Rajakovic knows him well from their time together in Memphis, but even if Morant came in reformed, it can’t be ignored that his skills have mostly vanished. The one-time superstar is barely shooting 40% from the floor, including 20% on three-pointers and doesn’t get to the paint at will for layups or dunks the way he did before all of the injuries.
The risks for Davis and Morant are varied, if different. Not to mention any big deal would likely mean the end of Barrett’s time playing in Toronto and he’s been far better and more impactful than anyone expected when he was acquired from New York.
Just say no, Raptors.
@WolstatSun
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