NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday he is hopeful that the nearly yearlong investigation into whether the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard circumvented the league’s salary cap rules is concluded this summer and the teams can move forward with their trade.
“It is realistic to think this can be wrapped up, and needs to be wrapped up, before the beginning of next season,” Silver told the media at the annual Summer League in Las Vegas. “It’s gone on longer than I had hoped.
“We want to be able to answer to our teams and our fans that it’s comprehensive.”
For the past 11 months, the league has been looking into whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap through an endorsement deal for Leonard with Aspiration, the now-defunct green banking company. If found to be culpable, Leonard’s contract could be voided and the Clippers fined.
Despite the uncertainty, the Clippers and Toronto Raptors engaged in a trade that would send Leonard back to the Raptors, who he led to the 2019 NBA title, in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Grady Dick, two first-round draft picks, two second-round picks and a first-round pick swap in 2027.
The trade was paused by the teams last Thursday, Silver said, because of “any possible impact on Kawhi or his contract was yet to be known.”
The teams “chose not to live with that uncertainty,” added Silver, who said he gets regular updates from the league’s general counsel on certain elements of the probe.
He added that there was no reason to believe any outcome of the investigation would be affected by Leonard switching teams and that all parties involved knew that when they agreed on the trade. According to the agreement, the Raptors would assume any risk involving Leonard’s contract.
The probe, as detailed by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, could lead to penalties that include a substantial fine, the loss of draft capital – and, potentially, even the voiding of a player contract – if the league finds there was a deliberate circumvention of cap rules.
In addition to the inquiry by the law firm of Wachtell Lipton into the Aspiration deal, the NBA reportedly has opened a second investigation into whether the Clippers improperly covered expenses for Leonard that were not reimbursed, according to The Athletic.
The firm also has examined whether Leonard had a previously unreported endorsement deal with another company, according to The Athletic.
The Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer have denied any wrongdoing, with Ballmer claiming he was a victim of fraud and was one of many who lost money investing in a company that went bankrupt and saw its founder sent to jail on fraud charges.