​Thursday marks the moment when deals previously agreed upon in the NBA can be finalized with the league year opening, but one major trade is currently stalled. The anticipated blockbuster involving Kawhi Leonard, pairing the Los Angeles Clippers with the Toronto Raptors, is on hold and won’t be completed until the NBA finishes its 10-month investigation into Leonard and the Clippers over alleged cap circumvention.
The probe began after startling reporting by Pablo Torres, who appeared to uncover a scheme in which the Clippers allegedly paid Kawhi Leonard through “Aspiration Partners,” a company in which the Clippers had invested. Torres claimed that the arrangement would compensate Leonard as a no-show employee, allowing the team to pay him beyond the maximum contract. The Clippers have denied any wrongdoing and remain confident the trade will eventually be completed, releasing a statement to ESPN.
The team stated: 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.
Meanwhile, the Raptors issued their own statement, reflecting hope that the trade could still proceed. They explained: Regarding our planned trade with the LA Clippers for Kawhi Leonard, the NBA League Office informed us that, due to an ongoing investigation involving the Clippers, we would assume the risk of any potential outcome of the investigation regarding Kawhi. In light of this, we will wait until the league’s investigation is complete. The Raptors remain eager to bring Kawhi back to Toronto and look forward to a swift resolution for our players and our organization, for the benefit of fans as well as the broader NBA community.