Sources: Clips, Kawhi inquiry could go into 2027
SkimNews Take
A binding-arbitration backstop with no hard deadline converts this investigation into a leverage contest, where the party most willing to wait holds the advantage.
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- NBA investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard could drag into 2027 if the parties don't agree on findings or any proposed settlement, sources with knowledge of the case told ESPN on Wednesday.
- NBPA executive director David Kelly told reporters in Las Vegas on July 9 that he didn't believe there was a "there, there" regarding the $28 million endorsement deal Leonard signed in 2022 with now-bankrupt Aspiration, and union sources said they wouldn't hesitate to take the matter to arbitration.
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver said July 14 the case is complicated by bankruptcy courts and reluctant witnesses, and that the investigation "needs to be wrapped up before the beginning of next season," while acknowledging it has gone "longer than I would have hoped."
- Wachtell Lipton, the New York law firm directing the probe, has expanded its scope to include a previously unreported endorsement deal Leonard had with another company and expenses the Clippers covered for him without reimbursement, The Athletic reported.
- Collective bargaining agreement penalties for salary cap circumvention include team fines up to $7.5 million, direct forfeiture of draft picks, voiding of player contracts, and suspensions of up to one year for team personnel found to have engaged in such a violation.
- LA Clippers remain adamant they did not funnel money to Leonard through Aspiration, and a source close to the team said the organization would "fight that to the end," including through arbitration.
- Proposed Clippers-Raptors trade sending Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks was agreed June 30 but put on hold after the league told both teams the Raptors would bear any penalty risk tied to the investigation.
Why it matters: With arbitration potentially pushing resolution into 2027, the on-hold Clippers-Raptors trade — under which Toronto absorbs any penalty risk for Leonard — stays stuck in limbo, while the Clippers face up to $7.5 million in fines, draft pick forfeitures, or contract voiding if cap circumvention is sustained.
