It still doesn’t feel exactly real, the idea — or the fact — that Kawhi Leonard is a Toronto Raptor again. 

But that’s what happened on Tuesday. And there was so much understandable excitement around the reality of it that some of the secondary questions that sprang up fell by the wayside as we tried to digest the big picture of Leonard wearing No. 2 again at Scotiabank Arena. 

That’s what we’ll try to do here, with the caveat that Sportsnet colleague Blake Murphy already dug into the salary-cap implications of adding Leonard’s $50.3-million contract to the books for the 2026-27 season as well as what will likely be a two-year extension in the range of $125 million. My primary comment — without digging into the nitty gritty — is that the Raptors project to have a payroll of more than $202 million, which is above the $201-million luxury-tax threshold and perilously close to the $209 million first apron, over which they can’t spend.

After signing second-year guard Alijah Martin to a two-year contract for the league minimum, they now have 12 guaranteed contracts on their books and will have to be very judicious with how they fill out the back end of their roster. 

Okay, onto the takeaways, Kawhi edition: 

Miss ya, Mamu: The Raptors had one significant free agent they were hoping to re-sign and it was Sandro Mamukelashvili, the stretch big who had a breakout season with the Raptors and inevitably didn’t pick up the $2.8 million option he had for next season. I had previously reported that the market for his skillset — he shot 38 per cent from three this past season, moved the ball well and was at least opportunistic defensively — would be pretty significant and the Raptors would have a hard time keeping him with the cap room they would have or be able to create even before the Leonard deal. Mamukelashvili was definitely open to coming back to Toronto — sources close to the situation said there was “constant” and “collaborative” communication with the team — but after breaking into the NBA on a two-way deal and spending the next four years on the fringes of the rotation with Milwaukee and San Antonio, it was understandable that he was looking to cash in to the extent he could.

There was no way the Raptors could match the four-year, $52 million contract the Lakers signed him to on Wednesday, which brought his brief-but-enjoyable — for all sides — Raptors tenure to a close, even though he would have been a perfect fit on the lineup Toronto has put together. Then again, he should get some good looks with Lakers star Luka Doncic spraying passes from the paint to the corners the way only he can. Mamukelashvili’s shooting will be missed in Toronto, as will his vibe as one of the nicest guys I’ve met over my years covering the team.

Aspirational: We don’t have the horsepower to rehash the entirety of the reason the Los Angeles Clippers have been at the forefront of an NBA investigation for nine months now. The (very) short version is that there is credible evidence that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funnelled additional money to Leonard by way of a phony endorsement deal that the then-Clippers star signed with a since bankrupted ‘environmental bank’ named Aspiration as a way to circumvent the salary cap. The allegations are tied to the three-year, $149.1 million contract that he is under now (for one more year and before the two-year extension the Raptors are expected to give him kicks in), not the one he signed when he left Toronto. But allegations of Leonard’s camp asking for similar arrangements from the Raptors and the Los Angeles Lakers — who were also recruiting Leonard back in 2019 — were in the ether then too. Complaints were made to the NBA, the league looked into it, but nothing came of it.

Podcaster Pablo Torre and his staff won a Pulitzer Prize for his multi-layered investigation of the whole affair this past year. No one knows what or when any punishment might be coming down from the league to the Clippers. Per sources, the Raptors “did their due diligence” with the NBA prior to making their most recent trade for Leonard and the guidance they received made them confident that they could acquire the former Clipper and not have it blow up in their face if Leonard was — as an example — facing a lengthy suspension.

Lowry reunion? Will Leonard be the only high-profile transaction the Raptors finalize in the coming days? Kyle Lowry — the GROAT (Greatest Raptor of All Time) — has pledged many times since leaving Toronto for Miami prior to the 2021-22 season that he wants to sign a one-day contract in Toronto and officially end his 20-year NBA career as a Raptor. Lowry is the franchise’s all-time leader in assists, steals, three-pointers made and playoff games won.

But what about the rest of the roster? There are two jobs available, assuming the Raptors will carry 14 players on standard NBA contracts — rather than 15 — given how tight their spending will have to be. The math says the Raptors’ next two signings will be for some version of the veteran minimum (which counts as $2.49 million against the cap). In a perfect world, the Raptors would find their next Mamukelashvili — a big who can shoot — or at least a big who can protect the rim and dunk, along with some additional shooting and some point-guard depth. It’s a lot to ask for the NBA’s version of the minimum wage. I was wondering if one-time Raptor Summer League standout Branden Carlson, who played for Oklahoma City last season, might be on their radar, but he signed a one-year deal with Portland. The pickings are slim. Maybe Guerschon Yabusele, the French big man who has shown some flashes in his previous NBA stops (11 points per game and 38 per cent from three in Philadelphia; 10 points and 38 per cent from three with the Bulls at the end of last season), will get a phone call? Kelly Olynyk, anyone? We’ll see.

Are the Raptors good now? With all the caveats about health and all of that, the Raptors are definitely a better team with Leonard on the roster than they were with Ingram. My friend and Sportsnet baseball producer Chris Black — a not-so-secret hoops aficionado — pointed out that Leonard had the third-best on-off numbers in the NBA last season at plus-14.3 points per game with the Clippers last season, trailing only Nikola Jokic (Denver) and Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio), while the Raptors were nine points per 100 possessions worse with Ingram on the floor than when he was off, which was the league’s third-worst number. While on-off numbers can be noisy given they are reliant on who players play with (a team with a weak bench will make a starter’s on-off numbers pop, by way of example), the broad strokes are pretty obvious: Leonard is a significantly better offensive player than Ingram, and miles better defensively. We’ll see what it adds up to in Toronto.

The New York Knicks promise to be the class of the East again, though they will miss Mitchell Robinson, the only key member of their championship team not returning after he signed with the Celtics. Boston should be pushing for the top of standings having added Robinson, and especially if Paul George (acquired in the trade for Jaylen Brown) can stay on his feet for most of the season. The Sixers, having acquired Brown coming off an all-NBA season, will be a factor as long as Joel Embiid can muster up 50-plus games. Miami added Giannis Antetoukounmpo. The Pistons are coming off a 60-win season. Cleveland views itself as a contender. The Orlando Magic might eventually figure out their talented roster. The Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets had scorching finishes to last season and Indiana, with Tyrese Haliburton’s return to health, will doubtlessly be trying to recover its Eastern Conference championship from 2025. Adding Leonard means you are in ‘win-now’ mode, but improving on the Raptors’ fifth-place finish from last year isn’t a guarantee. I count 11 teams vying for a top six seed. The Raptors are better with Leonard on the roster, but they will need to be.