Clippers' Kawhi Leonard Trade Looks Much Worse After Media Day

The return the Clippers got for Leonard isn't looking as good as it did on the day of the trade.

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Los Angeles Clippers fans are happy that the Kawhi Leonard saga is finally over. After a long wait and a ton of uncertainty, the trade that sent the 35-year-old superstar to the Toronto Raptors was finalized earlier this month. Leonard was introduced as a Raptor at Media Day on Monday, and the Clippers introduced Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick as the newest members of the team.

Unfortunately, the Clippers also revealed a new injury to Brandon Ingram. The 29-year-old forward reportedly has a partially torn Achilles, which was discovered during his offseason heel surgery. The Clippers announced that Ingram will miss the start of the season and remains without a timetable.

Since it's not a full Achilles tear, the recovery timeline is usually around six months. Given that he underwent surgery in May, he will be sidelined at least for the first month or two of the season.

The Clippers were obviously aware of this issue when they traded for Ingram. This should change the way we evaluate the trade with the Raptors.

Raptors May Have Fleeced the Clippers in the Kawhi Leonard Trade

Toronto sent Ingram, Dick, two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and a pick swap to the Clippers in return for Ingram. Initially, this was seen as a decent return for a player who was entering the final year of his contract and had a short list of teams he was willing to sign an extension with.

Knowing what we know now about Ingram's injury, however, the return looks much worse.

Even after Ingram returns to action, it's safe to assume that he will be on a minutes restriction and won't play both legs of back-to-backs. It's difficult to imagine him being fully back to 100% until after the All-Star break. Plus, how effective he will be returning from an Achilles tear, partial or not, is unclear.

Ingram has a player option for $41.9 million for the 2027-28 season. At the time of his acquisition, there was hope that he could opt out and sign a longer-term, team-friendly deal with the Clippers. This injury increases the chances of Ingram picking up that player option, further eating into the Clippers' cap space next offseason.

The whole appeal of acquiring Ingram was that he would allow the Clippers to stay competitive. He is a floor-raiser who would help keep the Clippers afloat, at least offensively. Now, he is less likely to provide that short-term benefit to LA.

One has to wonder whether this really was the best offer the Clippers could have gotten. Sure, they presumably wanted to send Kawhi to a team that he wanted to go to, but perhaps this was a mistake. Especially after what went down in the cap circumvention investigation, maybe the Clippers should have explored the market more.

Surely, it wouldn't have been too hard to beat Toronto's offer, which is essentially two first-round picks and two negative-value contracts. Unless Ingram returns sooner and better than expected, it's difficult to imagine Clippers fans looking back at this trade and feeling like they got good value for Leonard.