The Toronto Raptors won’t be able to finalize the Kawhi Leonard trade for now, as the league now won’t allow it to process until its investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers has concluded.
“For the past 10 months, our organization has fully cooperated with an NBA investigation, participating in dozens of interviews, providing tens of thousands of documents, and facilitating access to our staff. While the process has been challenging, we have remained committed to transparency,” a statement from the Clippers read, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, over the decision to delay the trade.
“On June 30, we reached an agreement in principle to trade Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors. We have since been informed that the trade can only be finalized if the Raptors’ ownership group assumes the risk of penalties related to Kawhi’s contract that could theoretically result from the ongoing investigation. The investigation is ongoing, and we expect the trade to be finalized following its conclusion.”
What is going on, exactly? Why can’t this trade be finalized until an investigation is over?
Soooo… remember that Leonard-Clippers-Asipration investigation that Pablo Torre broke last year?
Los Angeles Clippers governor Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard are under investigation for an alleged “no-show” job and NBA salary cap circumvention.
According to reporting from Pablo Torre on his hit podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out earlier this week, Ballmer made an investment in a company called Aspiration. The company later paid Leonard on a lucrative endorsement deal but did not require much from him in return.
Based on the similarities in the sizes between Ballmer’s investment and Leonard’s endorsement deal, there is cause for concern about why this may have happened.
Aspiration is now bankrupt and under federal investigation for fraud. The league is conducting its own investigation, which could take an extended period, but will dictate what happens next.
Los Angeles Clippers governor Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard are under investigation for an alleged “no-show” job and NBA salary cap circumvention.
According to reporting from Pablo Torre on his hit podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out earlier this week, Ballmer made an investment in a company called Aspiration. The company later paid Leonard on a lucrative endorsement deal but did not require much from him in return.
Based on the similarities in the sizes between Ballmer’s investment and Leonard’s endorsement deal, there is cause for concern about why this may have happened.
Aspiration is now bankrupt and under federal investigation for fraud. The league is conducting its own investigation, which could take an extended period, but will dictate what happens next.
There is no clear date for when it will be done, but we imagine it would be before the 2026-27 season starts so that both teams can know if the Leonard trade can happen as planned.
We suppose it’s possible, as could a punishment for the Clippers. However, we won’t know until the investigation is complete what the NBA will do.
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