CBC’s David Common talks to Akil Augustine about Kawhi Leonard returning to the Raptors

Kawhi Leonard is officially returning to the Toronto Raptors. His return comes after a long delayed trade deal with the LA Clippers. Now Toronto fans will be hoping for a repeat of 2019's championship season. We're gonna turn to a guy who is on the court often with the Raptors, sports journalist Akil Augustine. Hey Akil. How's it going? It's going well. You tell me, is this as big a deal as so many people hope that it is? For Canadian basketball fans, absolutely. For NBA fans, it changes the picture of the Eastern Conference. It changes who some people may be laying money on the line for winning a championship. This is a huge deal in my opinion, and I think for the Toronto sports fan, I think it's just it's a return of the king, for lack of a better term. I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan, but Kawhi won, he's back. But, but Akil, he is an older king than he was when he was here before, right? He's in his mid-30s, he's had some injury issues, some health issues. Is it, pardon my skepticism, but I worry, is he still the performer that he once was? Hey, the skepticism is fair. Basketball's a young man's game, but I will point your attention to the stat box from last year. Kawhi Leonard was third in the scoring race. He averaged almost 28 points per game. He played the most games he's played as a clipper, so he was the healthiest he'd been in the seven years he was there. And when I look around the landscape of the NBA, and I look at what he can do defensively still, and what the offensive package he showed last year, I think the Raptors front office knows what they're doing when they look at this player and say, this is still a guy that can take us to that next level again. Okay, let's talk about the price and the combination we get. They're swapping Brandon Ingram for Kawhi, now alongside Scottie Barnes. How does all of this alter the Raptors defensive end? Well, I mean, you think about how Kawhi altered that 2019 team. He brought an unseen level of leadership along with Kyle Lowry, much respect to him, but physical things that we hadn't seen before, no looks, steals, absolutely deadly from the mid-range, I still think he does that. And with Scottie Barnes, who is, you know, I think one of the best defensive players perimeter, inside, wherever you put him, they are a formidable duo. So I have a lot of expectations for the Raptors on the defensive side of the ball and on the offensive side of the ball because of what Kawhi has done in his career. So Kawhi leaves the Clippers, where does it leave them and do you care about them? Does anybody know? Listen, my perspective, all NBA organizations, talented individuals across the board, unfortunately, this has not been a good look for Steve Ballmer, the richest man in sports. They are paying penance. The big part here that's been revealed is he isn't going to challenge the NBA's ruling. And I think as much as we were waiting for that call between the Raptors front office, the Clippers front office, and the NBA's front office for this trade to go through, a lot of people think that the trade went through once Steve Ballmer decided not to pursue the challenging the penalties that were incurred based on the Wachtell investigation. So the Clippers are in some trouble, but they do get some picks back from the Raptors, right? So this is a shot in the arm for them that they really need. Okay, Akhil, no question that NBA athletes are incredible athletes, but they don't beat you. Tell me what you're about to do. You were just telling me as we were coming on camera that you're drinking mineral salts in preparation for this epic athletic slash torture event. Okay, I'm going to call people at High Rocks and tell them they got to get me like a better position at the race because of this promo we're doing. But I'm doing High Rocks at EnerCare Center, October 2nd. It's a huge, huge event that's growing, started in Germany. It's now international all over the world. I did the Ottawa race earlier in the year. This is my second time doing Toronto and going pro. If you want to see me throw up and potentially bleed at the Exhibition Center, come on down on the second. It should be horrible. This is morning television. Thank you, Akhil. Oh, guys, I'm sorry. I'm gonna fall. I fell last time. I cut my shin. It was bad. Well, Akhil, um, nice to talk to you. Maybe. I don't know. Go Raps.