It took until late in the summer for the story to unfold over multiple weeks, but the biggest story of the offseason revolved around the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard. It’s the latest chapter of the ongoing saga that makes bad headlines after bad headlines.
Pablo Torre broke the league-altering story of the Clippers allegedly conducting cap circumvention to pay Leonard millions of dollars under the table to keep their franchise star happy. Of course, the shrewd strategy endangers the purpose of the salary cap. It’s squeezing out a roll of toothpaste that the league doesn’t want to get out.
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The Clippers have handed out payments to the now-bankrupt ‘Aspirations’ company, which signed Leonard to a lucrative no-show sponsorship job. The popular theory — with the paper trail to back it up — going around is that LA did this to sweeten the deal for the multi-time All-Star to sign and remain there. A lot more nuanced layers are involved that should be viewed on Torre’s YouTube channel.
The NBA has taken action since. The league has opened an investigation into the Leonard-Clippers saga. While Clippers owner Steve Ballmer continues to deny the allegations, there’s enough smoke from Torre to at least ponder the possibility of a severe punishment for cap space circumvention.
The Clippers have already lost control of their first-round picks in the 2020s from a blockbuster 2019 deal that landed them Paul George. They mortgaged their future as the Leonard-George tandem peaked at one Western Conference Finals appearance.
Of course, this segues to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The NBA champion will forever have their success tied to the Clippers. After all, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams were directly added to OKC thanks to LA. Considering their roster’s youth and rich draft assets, they should be set up to contend for more titles.
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At his 2025-26 preseason press conference, Sam Presti declined to talk about the Clippers’ allegation. That’s probably the smart decision and something perhaps the NBA told the rest of the league as it investigates what happened between Leonard and the faux company.
“Look, I thought I might get asked this, and I understand the question, but I really don’t feel comfortable talking about that,” Presti said. “I just don’t want to comment on that.”
It remains to be seen what a potential punishment could be. A wide range of opinions has gone from a small fine to forfeiting their future first-round picks as soon as LA regains control of them in 2030. Regardless of the outcome, this latest dilemma is another tally added to OKC’s favor of how lopsided the NBA’s version of the Herschel Walker trade has grown.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: What Sam Presti said about Clippers, Kawhi Leonard investigation