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The trade has been reported and agreed upon.
But for right now, Kawhi Leonard is not yet a member of the Toronto Raptors. The trade with the Los Angeles Clippers isn't going through yet.
In fact, the NBA is halting the process while it investigates Leonard.
This stems from the idea that a third party may have been funneling Leonard extra money, beyond the scope of his Clippers contract.
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The Clippers continue to deny any wrongdoing.
Developing: The Los Angeles Clippers-Toronto Raptors trade centered on Kawhi Leonard will not be complete until the NBA investigation into the Clippers is over. Statement from the Clippers to ESPN:
For the past 10 months, our organization has fully cooperated with an NBA…
But for now, it's halting this deal, and it's not clear what happens next.
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Will the Raptors' Kawhi Leonard trade go through?
Frankly, there's no real way to know. This is a pretty unprecedented situation.
A player hasn't really been under an investigation like this before, let alone been traded while such an investigation was ongoing.
It's not clear exactly what the NBA would find that would then stop this deal, but maybe a potential Leonard suspension is what's hanging in the balance.
The Raptors said in a statement that they "remain eager to bring Kawhi back to Toronto," for whatever that's worth.
Obviously, it'd be a huge twist if Leonard didn't end up in Toronto after the deal is already nationally known.
But for now, everyone is in a holding pattern, and it's not clear where the road ends.
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