The Kawhi Leonard trade remains unofficial as the NBA's Clippers investigation continues, with NBA insider Brett Siegel expecting a decision before mid-September and warning that other owners want Steve Ballmer punished if wrongdoing is found.
The Kawhi Leonard trade is still not official, and the NBA's investigation into the LA Clippers remains unresolved.
During the latest Clutch Scoops podcast, Brett Siegel and Tomer Azarly discussed the ongoing investigation into Leonard and the Clippers, with Siegel saying he expects the league to reach a conclusion before the NBA Board of Governors meeting in mid-September.
The discussion came after ESPN posted a story saying the NBA had found no evidence that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Leonard and circumvent the salary cap.
The Clippers then released a statement suggesting they had been cleared, before the NBA pushed back publicly, saying there were "a number of significant inaccuracies" in the ESPN report.
"That was wild there as ESPN and the Clippers kind of came out and said, we didn't, you know, there was no salary cap circumvention, no wrongdoing," Azarly said. "And then all of a sudden you had the NBA come out and, you know, pretty, pretty strongly counter that story."
Siegel pushed back on the idea that the NBA had been silent before the story was published. He said he believes the league did provide a comment to ESPN, but that it was not included because it would not have fit the direction of the story.
"I think that they did comment and they provided this exact comment to ESPN, but they didn't want to print that in their story because that would obviously not look good," Siegel said.
Investigation expected to end before season
Siegel stressed that the investigation is not complete, saying the NBA has been in contact with the involved parties and the law firm handling the case.
"This investigation is not concluded; they have been in talks with the parties. They've been in talks with the law firm. And this investigation is still pending at this time," Siegel said.
Still, Siegel believes the process is close to ending.
"So they want this to be done before the start of the season," Siegel said. "Everybody wants it done before the start of the season. I tend to think that it's nearing its end."
According to Siegel, one important factor is that other NBA owners want the Clippers and Ballmer to be punished if the league finds wrongdoing.
"Because these other owners out there, they want Steve Ballmer and the Clippers to be punished hard," Siegel said. "They do not want them to get off easy with this because it's going to open up a can of worms for all these other organizations to begin doing these quote unquote cap circumvention deals."
Siegel added that, based on the NBA's own response, he does not believe Ballmer and the Clippers are fully clear yet.
"We'll see what ultimately happens because the NBA seems to think, or at least their statement seems to say, that Steve Ballmer and the Clippers are not getting off just yet," Siegel said.
Kawhi trade remains unofficial
The investigation also continues to affect the reported trade involving Leonard.
Azarly said Leonard is already operating as if he will be a Toronto Raptor, while Brandon Ingram and Grady Dick are doing the same with their new team. However, he emphasized that the trade has not been finalized.
"Kawhi Leonard is operating [as] a Toronto Raptor, obviously," Azarly said. "Same goes for Brandon Ingram and Grady Dick. But again, this trade is not official."
Because the deal is not official, both teams remain in a difficult position as they wait for the NBA's final decision. Azarly also noted that the Clippers may still have room to adjust the trade financially.
"I know that the Clippers have the ability to take on a bit more salary if that Kawhi Leonard trade would be adjusted in any way," Azarly said.
He added that both teams would like the investigation resolved before training camp, calling a delay into camp a worst-case scenario.
"It's not entirely over there, and so I know both teams would love this investigation to wrap up," Azarly said. "If this does go into training camp, I would be shocked at this point. I don't think any party wants that. That feels like a worst-case scenario."