Kawhi Leonard chose the Toronto Raptors for his trade out of the Los Angeles Clippers with his eye on building the legacy of his career back where he previously won a championship in 2019. Leonard also reportedly had interest in the San Antonio Spurs, which would have similarly been a return engagement.

Leonard also received trade interest from the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves, but he directed his efforts to the Raptors.

"This is a complete legacy play for Kawhi," said Shams Charania on TSN. "There were teams: Detroit, Minnesota, others that had interest in trading for him. That wanted to trade for him. That wanted to give him an extension.

"He made a decision because he had one year left on his deal to essentially weed out where he wanted to be. This is a legacy play for Kawhi Leonard. There's no doubt about it."

Leonard left the Raptors in 2019 to sign with the Clippers. Leonard is expected to sign a contract extension with the Raptors.