Title: How Raptors’ cap, roster picture look after Kawhi Leonard acquisition
Date: July 1, 2026
Original Source: Sportsnet
Synopsis: In my latest at Sportsnet, I broke down the Kawhi Leonard trade from a CBA perspective and laid out the Raptors roster and cap situation from here.
No NBA roster ever feels complete. To plug one hole, you often open up another. Fit and on-court chemistry are fluid. Internal development, which all 30 teams talk themselves into at the outset of each new league year, looks different at the trade deadline than it does as free agency opens. The work always continues.
Having said that, some roster questions are easier to tackle than others. Marginal wins are not uniformly accessible, leaps across tiers get progressively more difficult to make.
Like it was in 2018, that is the thinking of the Toronto Raptors again here as they get set to acquire Kawhi Leonard in a trade. For whatever risk the age, injury history, and outbound pick equity introduce, Leonard is a ceiling-raiser like few others. Yes, still.
After a jump back to the playoffs and genuine April relevance in 2025-26, the Raptors were faced with a question we always knew they’d eventually have to ask: The path to good was clear (and appreciated!), but what’s the path back to being great? Leonard, they hope, is the answer once again.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 