There has been a lot of uncertainty around Kawhi Leonard’s future recently, despite an agreement between the Raptors and the Clippers to trade for him. Reports suggested that the Raptors’ move for Leonard had been put on hold due to the league’s investigation into the Clippers’ potential involvement in a salary circumvention scheme.
Subsequently, the NBA’s commissioner, Adam Silver, hosted a press conference at the Summer League where he chose to address the media’s concerns about the investigation. Silver clarified that it was not the league office that asked the teams to put the trade on hold. He also gave an estimate on when he expects the investigations to end.
“I’m hopeful that it will wrap up this summer. I just want to clarify so everyone understands: the league did not pause the trade. The parties to the trade made a decision not to go forward, given that the investigation remained open,” explained Silver.
“Any possible impact on Kawhi Leonard and his contract was yet to be known, so they chose not to live with that uncertainty. But this was well known before the trade was even proposed.”
“I didn’t think there was any reason for people to believe that the status of Kawhi Leonard would change merely because he was traded. The investigation needs to run its course,” Silver continued.
“The issues were well known to the teams… I don’t think any of this information should’ve been a surprise to anyone involved,” he further added.
“I don’t know specifically what will be in the report. To the best of my information the report is not done. I do get regular updates from our general counsel, Rick Buchanan, who deals with Wachtell [their external counsel] on a weekly, if not daily, basis in terms of who they are talking to and what they are finding.”
“My understanding is that Wachtell is now in the process of going through the information they have gathered and drawing conclusions from that information. It is realistic to think that this can be wrapped up, and I would say needs to be wrapped up before the beginning of next season.”
“I could tell them to stop, but the benefit of an external investigation is that they have their own credibility on the line. So ultimately, I assume Wachtell could say to me that if you say we have to stop, we stop. But in our report, we will say we were required to stop before we felt like we had a complete understanding of the situation.”
“So they just need to find a balance. It’s going on longer than I would have hoped. Part of it is because of things that are out of their control or our control. Dealing with bankruptcy courts and reluctant witnesses, it’s a long, complicated, and complex process. I understand why people who have lived through these kinds of investigations are frustrated.”
“On one hand, we want to respect everyone’s rights here, I mean, certainly, if any of us were ever to be investigated, we would want a certain standard to be met: a standard of due process with presumption of innocence, etc.”
“And at the same time, we want to be able to answer to our teams and our fans and to all of you that this was comprehensive, and to the best of our ability, we have discerned what actually happened. So that’s where we are,” concluded Commissioner Silver.
However, as per Chris Haynes, the NBA insider, the Raptors were not aware that they would have to assume the full risk of the penalty for Leonard’s contract if found guilty of any wrongdoing in the investigations.
Silver’s words do indicate that we will likely not have to witness the awkward possibility of Kawhi Leonard returning in a Clippers jersey next season after having announced a move away from the team with a desire to potentially retire in Toronto.
According to senior NBA insider Shams Charania, Kawhi Leonard has categorically denied any participation, and the worst-case possibility for Leonard is that his contract gets voided and he faces a suspension. But the Clippers remain confident in their resolve that they have not done what they are being accused of.
Even the Raptors seem to already be working under the assumption that the trade will happen. Players like Scottie Barnes and even the veteran Kyle Lowry have expressed how excited they are to see Leonard with the Raptors once again.
Kawhi Leonard was spotted at a Raptors Summer League game, so even he seems confident that this trade will go through. Do you think Kawhi Leonard will face any consequences for these allegations? Let us know your opinion in the comments section.
