NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday he remained “hopeful” the investigation into Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers for alleged salary cap circumvention would conclude “this summer,” adding that the league was not responsible for holding up a reported trade that would have sent the seven-time All-Star forward to the Toronto Raptors.
Sports News
“This [investigation] needs to be wrapped up before the beginning of next season,” Silver said while addressing reporters after a meeting of the NBA’s board of governors. “It’s going on longer than I would have hoped, there’s no question about that.”
Silver said that the league’s general counsel continues to receive weekly updates about the investigation from the Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz law firm, but that he is not yet aware of the firm’s conclusions because its “report is not done.”
The NBA instructed the law firm in September to investigate allegations that the Clippers funneled money to Leonard through his $28 million endorsement deal with now-bankrupt green banking company Aspiration, which also had a $300 million, 23-year endorsement deal with the team. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who invested $60 million in Aspiration, has denied he had knowledge of Leonard’s deal.
Key Moments
Ballmer has previously sat for an interview with the Wachtell lawyers, and the Clippers owner met with them again last week in New York City in what sources with knowledge of the matter said was probably one of the final steps of the investigation.
Silver attributed the length of the investigation to legal complications, including “dealing with bankruptcy courts and reluctant witnesses,” and acknowledged the “frustration” felt by fans who want the matter to be resolved. Those frustrations deepened when the Clippers and Raptors issued statements last Thursday stating that a reported trade that would have sent Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round draft picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round pick swa
The trade was reportedly agreed to on June 30. The Clippers said in a statement last week 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 Raptors said in a statement that they “remain eager to bring Kawhi back to Toronto” but will wait until the investigation is over to proceed.
Analysis
If the investigation concludes that Leonard broke the league’s salary cap rules, the NBA could void his contract or fine him up to $350,000.
“The league did not pause the trade,” Silver said. “The parties to the trade made a decision not to go forward given that the investigation remained open. Any possible impact on Kawhi or his contract was yet to be known. They chose not to live with that uncertainty. That was well known before the trade was proposed.
“I don’t think there’s any reason for people to believe that the status of Kawhi Leonard would change merely because he was traded.”
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