The Los Angeles Clippers find themselves in hot water now due to the Kawhi Leonard cap circumvention scandal. The NBA is investigating the matter, but The Ringer’s Zach Lowe thinks it’s unlikely that the Clippers and their owner, Steve Ballmer, will be in much trouble. Lowe shared his predictions for the outcome on The Zach Lowe Show.
“I’m going to predict it finds no smoking gun,” Lowe said. “No email, no text, no nothing from anyone at the Clippers from Balmer on down to the equipment manager saying do this for this cap circumvention purposes.
“And if that is in fact what they don’t find or what they find/don’t find, I’m going to predict that still because of the diligence and just appearance issues that you’re talking about, that they get a slap on the wrist,” Lowe continued. “Like a second-round pick and a million-dollar fine or something like that.”
The Clippers have been accused of circumventing the cap by giving Leonard a no-show endorsement deal worth $28 million through Aspiration, a now-bankrupt environmental company in which Ballmer had invested $50 million. Boston Sports Journal later reported that the star also received $20 million in company stock.
That brings the total compensation to $48 million, suspiciously close to the amount that Ballmer invested. The Clippers have denied the allegations, but with the optics being this bad, Lowe thinks a slap on the wrist might be in order even if nothing concrete is found.
Lowe previously revealed that NBA teams are furious with the Clippers over this Leonard scandal. They are understandably upset, but despite the outrage, Lowe can also see a scenario where nothing happens.
“My next prediction after that, my second most likely scenario would be they find nothing and there’s no punishment at all,” Lowe stated. “… This is just me blindly as a stupid layperson, guessing… If they find a smoking gun, forget about it. If they find just anything that resembles that, there will be, I think, something bigger than what I’m suggesting in terms of a punishment.
“I don’t see a Joe Smith scenario,” Lowe added. “… I bet they don’t find a smoking gun because I just don’t think anyone would be that dumb. And I do find the Uncle Dennis theory pretty plausible. But I still think the league, because of the reaction, because of the depth of specifics that Pablo [Torre] has uncovered. I think that there would be some sort of slap on the wrist.”
The Joe Smith scandal involving the Minnesota Timberwolves is often brought up in these discussions. Smith had signed a one-year deal in 1999, but a secret agreement was put in place where he’d agree to two more one-year deals after which he’d get an $86 million extension.
This scheme was exposed in 2000, and the NBA handed out severe punishments. The Timberwolves were fined $3.5 million and were stripped of five first-round picks. Owner Glen Taylor was suspended while GM Kevin McHale was forced to go on leave.
Lowe doesn’t believe the Clippers will end up being punished this severely, but only time will tell. The NBA has hired the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the investigation.
