The Toronto Raptors and Kawhi Leonard tip off their season Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know

Seven years after he led the Raptors to their only NBA championship and a victory parade that Toronto will never forget, Kawhi Leonard has returned to Canada’s team. Just like the last time, he was acquired to make a good squad great, starting with the team’s season opener on Wednesday.

The two-time NBA champ and finals MVP rejoins a young Raptors club that finished 46-36 – fifth in the Eastern Conference – then came up short in Game 7 of its first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Scottie Barnes had an all-star year, and RJ Barrett had an impressive postseason, tying Barnes as the team’s leading scorer in the series, with 24.1 points per game.

The Raptors haven’t won a playoff round since 2020. Enter Leonard, a two-way force capable of being the best player on the floor in any given game. The team has quickly morphed into aggressively trying to win right now.

Kawhi’s road back to Toronto

The hope is that Leonard can pick up where he left off before skipping town just weeks after that 2019 championship run to sign with his hometown Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers made the playoffs in five of Leonard’s seven years there and won three playoff series total. He played in 35 of their postseason games and missed 14. His L.A. era was defined by massive expectations, injury setbacks, a single Western Conference final appearance and a salary-cap scandal that led to his trade back to Toronto.

Opinion: Kawhi Leonard’s return to the Toronto Raptors is a sequel worth waiting for

This year, the NBA found the Clippers and Leonard guilty of salary-cap circumvention involving unauthorized off-court endorsement deals. The league fined the Clippers US$30-million, made them forfeit five consecutive first-round draft picks, suspended owner Steve Ballmer and top executives, plus fined Leonard US$700,000.

The Clippers weren’t about to extend Leonard. Toronto was keen to get him back. The Raptors held off for months in finalizing the trade until the NBA completed its investigation.

Leonard is a seven-time all-NBA selection and two-time defensive player of the year coming off one of his best statistical seasons (averaging a career-high 27.9 points per game). The trade and his subsequent two-year extension was the biggest swing by Raptors executive vice president and general manager Bobby Webster since taking over last summer following former team president Masai Ujiri’s departure.

Bringing Leonard back is a high-risk, high-reward move that makes the Raptors intriguing again, in a way they haven’t been since before the pandemic.

Leonard is 35 now, seven years and two knee injuries removed from that magical 2019 season. But, if anyone can optimize Leonard’s health, it’s the Raptors. During his one Toronto campaign, he played in 60 of the 82 regular season games, and all 24 in the playoffs. He reunites with Alex McKechnie, the Raptors’ VP of player health and performance, who helped get the star back to his competitive peak after his injury-plagued departure back then from the San Antonio Spurs.

Expected starters

Fourth year Raptors coach Darko Rajaković is expected to use Leonard, Barnes, Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl in his starting five.

Coming off the bench

Toronto’s three primary reserves will likely be Jamal Shead (who was just signed to a three-year extension), Ja’Kobe Walter, and Collin Murray-Boyles, who was named to the all-rookie second team last year. Newly signed Kyle Anderson is the primary vet of the second unit. Rookie Allen Graves, whom the Raptors drafted 19th overall out of Santa Clara, projects to be the ninth or 10th man, but could get an extended run on nights when Leonard sits.

Key departures from last season

Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick were both traded to the Clippers in the Leonard deal. Sandro Mamukelashvili also departed in free agency for the Lakers.

The Eastern Conference is stacked

The New York Knicks take top billing in the East, fresh off their first NBA championship in over half a century. But the Raptors weren’t the only team in the conference that made a blockbuster deal to acquire a league superstar.

The Philadelphia 76ers added LeBron James in free agency and acquired Jaylen Brown from the Celtics. The Miami Heat got Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks. Then there’s the Detroit Pistons, who led the East last year, and the Cavaliers, still led by Donovan Mitchell and a year-older James Harden, who bounced the Raptors out of the playoffs last season.

Key home dates on Toronto’s schedule

• Oct. 21: Season opener at home against the Chicago Bulls.
• Nov. 15 and 17: Back-to-back home games against the Knicks. 
• Dec. 16: Hosting the reigning Western Conference champs, Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. 
• Dec. 18: The lone visit from Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
• Jan. 10: The first time Leonard will face the 76ers at Scotiabank Arena since he hit ‘The Shot’ that sent Toronto to the 2019 Eastern Conference final. It’s also Kyle Lowry’s jersey retirement night.
• Mar. 10: Canadian superstar and two-time reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander visits with the Oklahoma City Thunder.