Kawhi Leonard is officially a Raptor once again

This post on the Raptors Instagram account said it all. Kawhi Leonard is back and fans are celebrating. Really, really excited. Honestly, I think this is a big deal for the city. I think this is a big deal for myself too. I think there's a lot of excitement now because Kawhi brings a lot to the team. He did it in 2019. I think he'll do it again this year. The Raptors have finally completed a trade with the LA Clippers that was originally agreed to back on June 30th. Kawhi Leonard heads to Toronto in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Brady Dick and DraftBits including two first rounders. The deal was put on hold because of an NBA investigation into the Clippers and Leonard for salary cap circumvention. It was alleged at the time that the Clippers were trying to skirt that circumvent the salary cap by paying Kawhi Leonard more through these shell companies. One of them is a defunct shell company called Aspirations. As punishment, the league fined the Clippers 30 million dollars and stripped them of five first round draft picks. For his involvement, Leonard was fined 700,000 dollars. The entire ordeal has likely tarnished Leonard's reputation. If you're a Clippers fan, you're probably not the biggest Kawhi Leonard fan. The average NBA fan may have their opinion but for us here in Toronto and Canada to get this guy back is huge. Raptors sideline reporter Akeel Augustine says fans here remember what Leonard did for the organization back in 2019. Turns a corner for the win. That was the year Leonard led the Raptors to the first NBA championship in franchise history. It's going to bolster the team. It's going to bolster the community. It's going to bolster the basketball economy. So I mean I'm all for it. Leonard is now 35 years old and he has been plagued by injuries since leaving the Raptors after the championship run. But many believe he is still a top-ranked player in the league. Yeah he's had some injuries in LA but again last year one of the best players in the league. He was in the running for the scoring title and if you look at the trends he's trending towards health. He played more games last year as a Clipper than he had in any other season. Fans in Toronto believe he makes the team a contender again. I'm really excited for him to come back show us what he's still got. This deal comes to fruition just two weeks before the Raptors are set to open training camp at the end of this month. Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors are scheduled to play their first regular season game here at Scotiabank Arena against the Chicago Bulls on October 21st. Greg Ross, CBC News, Toronto.