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Many ancient languages possessed similar words for lion, including Akkadian𒌨(labbu) (reconstructed to Proto-Semitic*labiʾ-). It is unclear how they are related and who borrowed from whom. The ultimate source is likely not Indo-European, however.[1]
The τ(t) in the stem λεοντ-(leont-) was influenced by the present participle. The original stem was *λεον-(*leon-), as shown by λέαινα(léaina, “female lion”) and Latinleō. If the stem were originally λεοντ-(leont-), the feminine form would be *λέουσα(*léousa).
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “λέων, -οντος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 854