Summer League is over, summer is here.

In a normal year, NBA business would be all but completed by now and the league would be on the cusp of an extended vacation before opening up shop again around late August and early September as players begin reconvening in-market to ramp up for training camp.

Things are little bit different this summer as one of the league’s biggest trades – as the Toronto Raptors acquired Kawhi Leonard for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and multiple draft assets – is on hold while the NBA completes its now-nearly 11-month investigation into alleged salary-cap circumvention after Leonard signed a new four-year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2021.

As well, the NBA is watching with interest as an unprecedented set of circumstances unfold around LeBron James, the 41-year-old superstar who is a free agent and looking for a new team to end his career with while gunning for one more championship, with an added twist that he’s reportedly willing to play on a contract that would pay him a fraction of his actual on-court value.

The Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers are the betting favourites to land James in a move that could shift the balance of power in the league.

As for the Raptors? While waiting on Leonard, they have been otherwise going about their business. They finished their Las Vegas Summer League schedule with a 3-2 record and while there was some disappointment that we never got to see second-year star Collin Murray-Boyles unleashed as point forward due to a sprained finger (not thumb!) he suffered in training, there were some interesting developments.

Outside of waiting for Leonard and maybe nailing down a training camp deal or finalizing their 14th roster spot, most of the team’s business is done, with players and coaches heading out for some family and vacation time before reconvening for a team minicamp in Paris during the second week in August.

Three-point Grange, summer edition:

The Raptors have never been shy about playing unconventional lineups.

This was a team not too long ago that went two consecutive seasons without having a seven-footer on its roster and tried to compensate by seemingly having half of its players measure anywhere between six-foot-seven and six-foot-nine.

Even since they reacquired Jakob Poeltl late in the 2022-23 season the big Austrian........

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