At this point, even the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers perhaps are finding it hard to follow everything.
The proposed trade between both teams remains frozen more than a week after the NBA ruled on its investigation into the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard for salary cap circumvention. Here, in a nutshell, are the penalties the league levied.
- Clippers lose five first round picks receive a $30 million fine
- Owner Steve Ballmer suspended one year
- Executive Gillian Zucker suspended one year
- General manager Lawrence Frank suspended six months
- Leonard fined $700,000
The Clippers were slapped with the most severe team punishment in NBA history … dare we say sports history? The basketball world is waiting for this trade to go through once and for all, but not so fast. Now, a criminal investigation has opened involving the Clippers.
Raptors Predicted to Pull Out of Kawhi Leonard Trade Amid New Investigation
On Thursday, The New York Times reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Clippers’ secret dealings with Leonard.
“Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into allegations that the Los Angeles Clippers helped arrange secret sponsorship contracts for the star player Kawhi Leonard that circumvented the salary cap, according to people briefed on the matter,” the Times reported. “The investigation is in its earliest stages and is being conducted by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, which has a long history of investigating the N.B.A. and professional sports, according to two of the people. The authorities began scrutinizing the matter before the N.B.A. leveled a series of severe punishments last week against the Clippers, its owner and two top executives after a law firm working for the N.B.A. and its commissioner, Adam Silver, concluded that the team had engaged in a wide-ranging effort to break its rules.”
Amid this groundbreaking new investigation, NBA analyst Ryan Lucas sees the Raptors backing out of the proposed Leonard trade.
“I predict the Raptors pull out of the trade within the next 48 hours,” Lucas wrote in an X post. “You need clarity. This new investigation could take another couple months, at the minimum, I’d imagine – now you’re talking REAL federal and legal probes, not podcasts / twitter debates/ or sport league rules in cap circumvention reports anymore. Even if the Clippers were willing to just do the deal for (Brandon) Ingram and Grady (Dick) to match the salary with no picks involved, I wouldn’t even consider it if I’m the Raptors. Makes zero sense at this point to take on this headache that clearly feels like ANOTHER potential year ahead of a different investigation/reports/new info, etc. You’re going to trade for a guy with the risk that in a few months you find out he could potentially be indicted as an outcome, if it’s found there’s wrong doing? How long before you’d even know if he has to worry about hypothetical consequences or not?….just move on at this point.”
Will Toronto Continue to Stay Patient?
Before the trade with the Clippers was agreed upon, the Raptors reportedly accepted the risk associated with acquiring a player who was involved in a league investigation.
It has been reported for weeks that both Leonard and the Raptors expect the trade to finalize.After the league ruled on the Clippers and Leonard last week, the 35-year-old, two-time Finals MVP reportedly fully expected the trade to be completed in short order.
Earlier this week, The Athletic reported that the hold up on the proposed Leonard trade has to do with the Clippers’ front office being in disarray following the NBA’s ruling last week.
At what point does Toronto decide that all of this is too much to acquire a 35-year-old aging superstar? Leonard is still viewed as a hero in Canada after helping deliver the first NBA championship in Raptors franchise history, but in the wake of a federal investigation, there is no saying how long it could take for all matters involving Leonard and Clippers to clear.
Raptors Predicted to Abandon Kawhi Leonard Trade After Major Development