The Clippers and Raptors have put Kawhi Leonard’s return to Toronto on ice, saying the trade will not be finalized until the NBA finishes its investigation into the Clippers. The agreement in principle was reached on June 30, but three days after the moratorium, it was still not official.
That delay matters because Leonard is the player at the center of the hold-up, and both teams have now tied his future to a league probe that has already stretched past 10 months. The Clippers said they have spent that time cooperating fully, with dozens of interviews and tens of thousands of documents, while the Raptors said they will wait until the league’s review is complete.
The NBA hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz more than 10 months ago to examine Aspiration’s ties to the Clippers, Steve Ballmer and Leonard after allegations surfaced that the team used the company to get around the salary cap through a no-show endorsement arrangement. The league has not disclosed what it has found, if anything, but the trade cannot be completed until that process ends.
The Clippers deny that they funneled money to Leonard through Aspiration and say Joe Sanberg, who they say has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison, was behind the fraud. They also said the NBA told them the deal could be finalized only if the Raptors’ ownership group takes on the risk of any penalties tied to Leonard’s contract, a condition the Raptors say they have been informed of as well.
That leaves the teams in an awkward holding pattern: the Clippers say they expect the trade to be finalized once the investigation is over, while the Raptors say they remain eager to bring Leonard back to Toronto. Until the NBA closes its file, the most important piece of the deal is the one nobody outside the league can see.
