The agreed-upon trade sending Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors has hit another snag, and the LA Clippers may not be able to fix it.
Following the NBA’s ban of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker for allegedly circumventing the salary cap, the franchise lacks an eligible ownership representative to sign off on the Leonard deal. As such, the trade cannot be processed until the Clippers appoint a temporary governor.
The complication is that the Clippers’ other ownership representative, Dennis Wong —an investor in the bankrupt environmental startup Aspiration — allegedly used his entity, DEA 88 Investments, to wire $1.75M to Leonard in December 2022.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Pablo Torre reported on X that the NBA faces hurdles in approving the Leonard trade until the Clippers appoint an acting governor.
“P.S. To process the Kawhi trade, the NBA first needs to approve the Clippers’ temp governor,” Torre reported via X on Friday.
“Ballmer and one of his alternates, Gillian Zucker, are both banned. Ballmer’s other alternate?
“Clippers co-owner — and Aspiration investor — Dennis Wong. But would the NBA approve that?”
Kawhi Leonard Trade Faces Roadblock
With just three weeks left for training camp, Leonard officially remains a member of the LA Clippers. However, SportsNet’s Michael Grange reported Friday that the Raptors and Clippers remain determined to go through with the trade imminently.
“…Those close to the situation remain confident that the deal to bring Leonard to Toronto (and send Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick to Los Angeles) will go through sooner rather than later,” Grange wrote.
“Procedurally, the Clippers still need to appoint a team governor and top basketball executive to sign off on things, so that’s considered to be the main reason the deal — first agreed to back on June 30 — remains in limbo.”
Clippers Under DOJ Investigation
The latest complications arise amid reports that the the U.S. Department of Justice has begun investigating the LA Clippers for their alleged shady dealing 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 New York Times reported on Thursday.
“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.”
The NBA issued historic penalties to the Clippers for salary cap circumvention via illicit endorsements: a $30M fine and the loss of five consecutive first-round picks (2029-2033). Additionally, Steve Ballmer and Gillian Zucker received one-year suspensions, Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months, and Leonard was fined $700,000.
Raptors Get Bad News on Kawhi Leonard Trade After New Report