The league inquiry that froze the Los Angeles Clippers’ trade of Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors is getting bigger, not smaller. USA TODAY Sports reported Tuesday that the NBA’s investigation has grown in scope to include whether the Clippers improperly covered expenses for Leonard without being reimbursed, and whether Leonard held a previously unreported endorsement deal with a second company beyond Aspiration. The trade has been on hold since last week while the league finishes its work.
The core question hasn’t changed: whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap by directing money to Leonard through his $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration, the now-bankrupt green-banking company that also held a major sponsorship with the team. The investigation, conducted by the law firm Wachtell Lipton, began last September. Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg has since been convicted of fraud and sentenced to 14 years in prison. The Clippers have denied wrongdoing throughout, saying they “did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard through Aspiration” and calling themselves “victims of a fraud initiated by Sanberg.”
Every new thread extends the timeline, and the timeline is the problem for both franchises. The June 30 agreement — Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 pick swap and two second-rounders — cannot close until the league rules, because Toronto has refused to absorb the risk of a penalty it didn’t earn. Two weeks into the freeze, the Clippers cannot integrate the players in their return package, cannot settle their cap sheet, and cannot answer the basic question of who is on this roster in October.
The league has announced no timeline for a resolution. An investigation still adding subjects ten months in does not sound close to one, and training camps open in roughly ten weeks.
The freeze touches more fantasy rosters than just Leonard’s. Dynasty managers holding Leonard don’t know his conference, his supporting cast or his training staff for next season, and Ingram’s and Dick’s values are parked until they have a home arena. If a trade involving any of the principals can wait, let it wait.
