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Why are there no awkward reunions expected when Raptors play Clippers?

Both Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Ingram are not expected to play in pre-season game in Vancouver, but Gradey Dick is around.

Published Oct 09, 2026  •  2 minute read

Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers makes a slam dunk against Brandon Ingram of the Toronto Raptors during a game last season. The pair were involved in a trade for each other this off-season. Getty Images

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The biggest drama of the NBA off-season centred around the long Kawhi Leonard/Los Angeles Clippers salary-cap circumvention scandal.

The affair held up Toronto’s blockbuster trade with the Clippers for some 70 days, leaving Leonard a bit behind in his off-season work.

Which is a big reason why there won’t be any awkward reunions when the Raptors host the Clippers in Vancouver on Saturday night in the second exhibition match for both teams so far.

Leonard is not expected to play, even though he ramped up to a full practice this week in Toronto. Brandon Ingram, the 2025-26 all-star who headlined the package arriving in L.A., won’t either as he recovers from heel and Achilles repairs.

That leaves Gradey Dick, the one-time highly touted Raptors prospect who is now fighting for his NBA career as he gets a second chance with a Clippers team that has already been ravaged by injuries. Dick should get a great chance to re-establish himself as an NBA player because Los Angeles won’t have Ingram, veteran Max Strus or promising youngster Jordan Miller anytime soon and is also waiting on Bradley Beal and Kobe Sanders.

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He had six rebounds but shot 1-for-5 in 16 minutes in a loss Oct. 4 against Golden State.

“Just trying to find my niche and find my spot on this team and rely on those older guys,” Dick told reporters on media day. “The vets have been great so far and they’ve been helping me along the way.

“My dad always told me since I was a little kid just control what you can control. Coming to a new team, a new city, everything happens fast. But if you just go out there, work hard, and know your personnel, everything else will take care of itself.”

Toronto is still waiting on Ingram and rookie Allen Graves to debut in the pre-season, with the lone home game going Tuesday against the New York Knicks.

Depth centre Trayce Jackson-Davis and prospect big man Nate Bittle have been hurt, along with sharp-shooter Jamison Battle, who helped push Dick out of the rotation last year.

Head coach Darko Rajakovic is still trying to figure out his expected rotation as Leonard and his new teammates get up to speed.

Sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles and now third-year wing Ja’Kobe Walter have impressed, along with star forward Scottie Barnes, the players have said.

Starting centre Jakob Poeltl is back in form thanks to a revamped summer workout plan.

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Before the NBA made the mistake of moving the Vancouver Grizzlies to Memphis, the two franchises spent 1995-2000 playing exhibitions in Winnipeg, Calgary, Halifax, Edmonton and Ottawa.

It wasn’t until a decade later that the Raptors actually played a pre-season game in Vancouver, and they were also there in 2014, 2015 and 2016, holding training camp there several times (2010, 2014-2016, 2018, 2023, as well as in Victoria twice).

They returned in 2023 as well as last year against Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets, when they lost in a pre-season game in Vancouver for the first time.

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