LAS VEGAS — The trade sending Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto will be on hold for a bit longer.The NBA’s annual Board of Governors meeting is taking place at Summer League this week and a ruling on the investigation into the Clippers and failed startup Aspiration won’t be finalized before commissioner Adam Silver meets with the media on Tuesday night.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat doesn’t mean Silver will be short on topics to cover.The league recently closed a round of bidding on teams for its prospective league in Europe and has seen a number of groups go public about their interest in bringing an expansion team to Las Vegas.And Silver will likely be asked why it took nine days for the NBA to officially inform the Clippers and Raptors that their trade was on hold until the Aspiration investigation was completed.“We don’t have a specific timeline for the conclusion of the investigation but expect the firm to finalize its work in the coming weeks,” a league spokesperson said in a statement.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn July 30, the Raptors agreed to trade Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, two first-round pick swaps, and a second-rounder to the Clippers for Leonard, who is extension eligible and in the final year of his contract. The trade’s respective players had already gone to their new cities and taken physicals before the NBA intervened.Coincidentally, the two teams played against each other on Monday at Summer League with Leonard courtside.There was speculation in league circles that the investigation would wrap up ahead of Silver’s Summer League press conference to discuss the findings before the NBA’s calendar quiets down until September.The postponement ensures that July and August will be more consequential than in past years.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFor the first time in years, Silver doesn’t have a team sale looming.In March, the owners approved Tom Dundon as the newest governor of the Trail Blazers after the first step of his multi-tiered transaction closed.More than 60% of NBA teams have changed hands since 2010, and the Trail Blazers, Celtics, Timberwolves, and Lakers were all sold in the past two years.While in Vegas, Front Office Sports surveyed multiple front office executives to ask which team they expect to go on the market next. The top three answers? The Thunder, Grizzlies, and Pacers.A year ago, longtime Oklahoma sportswriter Berry Tramel wrote that sources told him the Thunder’s ownership group, led by Clay Bennett, will want to sell the team “soon,” fresh off the franchise’s first championship since relocating from Seattle in 2008.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Thunder are owned by The Professional Basketball Club LLC, which is Bennett and six other businessmen. For years the group tried to sell the roughly 20% stake owned by Aubrey McClendon before he died; the group ultimately absorbed it. All of the owners are 65
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