Following Kawhi Leonard's official trade back to the Toronto Raptors on Monday, ESPN's Brian Windhorst recalled the Los Angeles Clippers' aggressive pursuit of the star forward while he was still playing for Toronto during the 2018-19 season.

During the latest episode of “The Hoop Collective,” Windhorst detailed how the Raptors began noticing Clippers representatives attending their games with unusual frequency as Los Angeles positioned itself to pursue Leonard in free agency.

“There was an analysis done by the Raptors before games about where to put scouts,” Windhorst said. “So the Raptors started noticing that the Clippers were coming to every single game. There was even one game, where Lawrence Frank the team president came to watch a game. And then they started looking when they would go on the road – they would be playing in Cleveland. And they’d look, are the Clippers playing Cleveland anytime soon? They’re not playing the Raptors anytime soon.”

Windhorst said the presence of Clippers president Lawrence Frank particularly stood out because executives typically would not attend games in Toronto without their own team being involved.

“There was even one game, where Lawrence Frank the team president came to watch a game. It’s not unheard of but it is unusual,” Windhorst said. “Maybe in a place like Los Angeles where the team might also be in town or whatever, you might see that. But in a place like Toronto, it would be very unusual for the general manager or president of a team who was not involved in the game to come to the game. But Lawrence Frank, as I recall actually had come to a Raptors game or two.”

Brian Windhorst says the Clippers scouts were going to every raptors game:

“ There was an analysis done by the Raptors, they started noticing that the Clippers were coming to every single game. There was even one game, where Lawrence Frank the team president came to watch a… pic.twitter.com/xCwU3urqvl

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Clippers' aggressive Kawhi Leonard pursuit caught Raptors' attention

Leonard had arrived in Toronto during the 2018 offseason after the Raptors acquired him from the San Antonio Spurs. With Leonard set to become a free agent the following summer, the Clippers emerged as a persistent presence throughout his lone season in Toronto.

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Windhorst recalled publicly pointing out how frequently Clippers representatives appeared at Raptors games and receiving immediate pushback from someone within the organization.

“So the Raptors were like this is getting a little bit ridiculous that the Clippers are so blatantly smothering Kawhi, like you say MacMahon like an AAU team,” Windhorst said. “And so I said, boy the Clippers are sending a heck of a lot of people to these Raptors games and I got a blitzkrieg text from someone at the Clippers who will be unnamed. This is back in 2018-19, about how out of line I was.”

The pursuit ultimately worked. After leading Toronto to its first NBA championship and earning Finals MVP honors in 2019, Leonard left the Raptors and signed with Los Angeles.

Seven years later, the relationship has come full circle under much different circumstances. The NBA punished the Clippers two weeks ago following its investigation into the franchise, paving the way for Leonard's eventual departure.

Toronto officially reacquired Leonard on Monday, sending Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and two second-round picks to Los Angeles.

Leonard's return to Toronto closes a seven-year chapter that began with the same Clippers pursuit Windhorst described as so aggressive that the Raptors took notice throughout their championship season.