Grading Blockbuster Kawhi Leonard Trade Between LA Clippers and Toronto Raptors

An already wild NBA offseason got even wackier on Tuesday, when news broke of a reunion between Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors.

ESPN's Shams Charania alerted the world to the deal.

Suddenly, it feels like there may be a new title contender in the East, while the Los Angeles Clippers may have opened up a play-in spot in the West.

Grades on the good old-fashioned A-F scale, for both teams, can be found below.

Los Angeles Clippers: B+

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With all due respect to Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick, this deal doesn't have much to do with the players going to L.A.

Neither is in the same universe as Kawhi when it comes to talent or an ability to impact winning, and that doesn't really matter.

Lineups headlined by Ingram and Darius Garland may be competitive, even in the West, but this trade clearly signals the Clippers aren't dying to contend right now.

What makes this is a pretty easy pass is all the draft capital.

Kawhi is 35, one of the biggest injury risks in the league and only has one year left on his deal. Getting anyone to surrender multiple first-round picks, a pick swap and some seconds would've been surprising.

The downside for Toronto is pretty huge, and so is the upside for L.A.

The only things holding this back from an even higher grade are nitpicks. Ingram's contract runs through 2027-28, when he has a $41.9 million player option. It'd be a little easier sell if he was expiring after this season.

And while Toronto may have ponied up a little extra draft capital to avoid doing this, it would've been nice for the Clippers to get a higher-ceiling prospect (like Collin Murray-Boyles).

Toronto Raptors: B+

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As previously mentioned, the downside for the Raptors on this deal has the potential to be massive.

Leonard could miss significant chunks of the season, Toronto could flame out early and he could leave in free agency. In that case, the team will have surrendered multiple picks and a once-promising shooter, essentially, for nothing.

In fact, given how well talent is currently spread throughout the NBA, that's probably the likeliest longterm outcome of this trade.

But this also took the Raptors from a scrappy, middle-of-the-East non-contender to a bona fide title threat. The "league is wide open" card has two sides. It also means Toronto might now have enough talent for another magical run.

And while the number of draft picks sounds high, replacing Ingram's minutes with Leonard's is a massive upgrade. It's not hard to see this developing in much the same way the last Kawhi-to-the-Raptors deal did.

Back then, they gave up another solid-though-unspectacular mid-range scorer in DeMar DeRozan as the headliner in a Kawhi trade, and that resulted in a title.

Again, the chances of this playing out the same way are slim. Leonard is eight years older than he was the last time Toronto took him on. But there is at least a chance, thanks to this reunion.