Within his Raptors season primer, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca continues to hear from people familiar with the matter that the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto — and Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, two second-rounders and one first-round swap to Los Angeles — “will go through sooner rather than later.”
As Grange writes, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is “undoubtedly” fuming at the major penalties the NBA imposed on him and the team for circumventing the salary cap to pay Leonard through four different “no-show” endorsement deals. The fact that Leonard got off so lightly — he has to pay the league $700K — makes it sting all the more.
However, the Clippers badly need draft capital after forfeiting five first-round picks as part of the punishment, and they’ll be receiving a handful as part of the trade. Clippers GM Trent Redden, who’s expected to be the team’s interim head of basketball operations with president Lawrence Frank suspended for six months, was also the executive who negotiated the Leonard deal, Grange adds.
When exactly the trade goes through is evidently still up in the air. The hold-up is believed to be on the Clippers’ side of things as they work through what to do in the wake of the penalties. Marc Stein of The Stein Line reports (via Twitter) that the NBA is prepared to take the trade call whenever the two clubs agree to do it.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
In a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, Brian Lewis takes a closer look at how and why the Nets ended up taking Mikel Brown Jr. with the sixth overall pick in June’s draft. The former Louisville standout, whose mentors include Rajon Rondo and Donovan Mitchell, is eager to learn from from his veteran teammates, Lewis writes, and those close to the 20-year-old guard refer to him as a “sponge who soaks up information.” Brooklyn’s front office believes Brown can quickly become a leader for the team. “For us, to be honest, it’s really important to see what makes these guys tick, where they come from, why they have the habits they [do],” general manager Sean Marks said. “Their parents have a lot to do with it. And it was an absolute pleasure to meet the parents of Mikel, get to see his family background and where he’s from and the history of how he’s grown up, and see how he cares for his siblings and so forth. How he cared for his teammates, those things stood out, right? When you’re talking to the staff at Louisville and, honestly, everywhere he’s been, how he wanted to take care of his teammates and those stories that he likes breaking bread with teammates and taking ’em out and spending time socializing with them, that goes a long way when we’re trying to build a team culture, trying to build a connected group. … It’s important to bring guys in there that actually want to facilitate that.”
Will Labaron Philon Jr. be able to crack the Sixers’ rotation as a rookie? Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice explores that subject, writing that the former Alabama guard appeared to be a good bet to receive minutes when he was selected 22nd overall, but that no longer seems likely after a busy offseason for the 76ers. Being a consistent shooter off the ball and providing resistance on defense, which was an issue this past season for the Crimson Tide, will be the keys to whether Philon is able to earn NBA playing time in 2026/27, Aaronson concludes.
In case you missed, the Celtics are reportedly interested in signing guard Devin Carter after he clears waivers. The former lottery pick was cut by Atlanta on Friday amid a roster crunch.