Raptors trade for Kawhi Leonard can't be completed until NBA's investigation into Clippers ends
When the Toronto Raptors acquired star forward Kawhi Leonard from the Los Angeles Clippers in late June, questions immediately arose regarding Leonard's status. The forward and the Clippers were still under investigation by the NBA after reports emerged accusing the Clippers of paying Leonard impermissible benefits to sign with the team ahead of the 2019-20 NBA season.
That investigation is still underway and the Leonard trade cannot be completed until the NBA closes the case, both teams confirmed Thursday.
The Clippers issued a statement to ESPN confirming the situation, saying the team has cooperated with the NBA for the last 10 months as it looked into the allegations.
In the statement, the Clippers once again claimed their innocence, saying the team "did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard." It added, "We have not done what we are accused of doing."
The Clippers' full statement read:
For the past 10 months, our organization has fully cooperated with an NBA investigation, participating in dozens of interviews, providing tens of thousands of documents, and facilitating access to our staff. While the process has been challenging, we have remained committed to transparency.
On June 30, we reached an agreement in principle to trade Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors. We have since been informed that the trade can only be finalized if the Raptors' ownership group assumes the risk of penalties related to Kawhi's contract that could theoretically result from the ongoing investigation. The investigation is ongoing, and we expect the trade to be finalized following its conclusion.
At the heart of this investigation are Joe Sanberg and Aspiration. We did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard through Aspiration. Like many sophisticated investors, financial institutions, and business partners, we were victims of a fraud initiated by Sanberg, who has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
We recognize the uncertainty this has created and the impact it has had on our team, our fans, the Raptors organization, their fans, and the players whose futures remain affected while this process continues.
We remain confident that, when the facts are evaluated fairly and thoroughly, the NBA will confirm exactly what we have said from the beginning: We have not done what we are accused of doing.
The Raptors also released a statement, saying they were going to hold off on the trade until the NBA released its findings. The Raptors said the team was told it would "assume the risk" of any potential punishment handed to Leonard and wanted to wait things out before allowing the deal to go through, per Marc Stein.
"The league office informed us that, as a result of the ongoing investigation involving the Clippers, we would assume the risk of any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Kawhi. In light of this we will wait until the league's investigation is complete."
The NBA announced in September that it would investigate claims that the Clippers used a company known as Aspiration to pay Leonard $28 million for "no-show jobs." Reports suggested it was the team's way of guaranteeing Leonard extra money without running afoul of the NBA salary cap.
The NBA has offered few updates on the situation since then, with commissioner Adam Silver saying he would need to find clear evidence of impropriety in order to take action against the team. Things have mostly remained quiet since the All-Star break.
But there's evidence a resolution could come soon. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that there's belief the deal "will end up happening."
Because of that, it doesn't appear the punishments — if issued — will be severe enough to have any effect on the Leonard deal going through. For now, though, all players and draft picks involved in that deal are in limbo until the NBA completes its investigation.
