Adam Silver Pushes Back on Notion NBA Paused Kawhi Leonard Trade Amid Ongoing Clippers Investigation

LAS VEGAS — On Tuesday, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer settled into a courtside seat at the Thomas & Mack Center. Alongside president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank and head coach Tyronn Lue, Ballmer was all smiles as he watched L.A.’s Summer League team take on the Lakers. At the same time, up on the concourse level, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was addressing the franchise’s future.

As the investigation into allegations that the Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard moves toward its 11th month, the situation has gotten messier. Last month, Los Angeles and Toronto agreed to a trade that would send Leonard back to the Raptors. Fears that an NBA punishment could trickle down to Leonard have stopped the trade from becoming official.

“The NBA league office informed us that as a result of the ongoing investigation involving the Clippers, we would assume the risk of any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Kawhi,” the Raptors said in a statement. “In light of this, we will wait until the league’s investigation is complete.”

In a separate statement, the Clippers said they were informed after agreeing to the deal that it could only be finalized “if the Raptors’ ownership group assumes the risk of penalties related to Kawhi’s contract that could theoretically result from the ongoing investigation.”

Privately, league officials have been baffled by the team reactions. While the focus on the investigation has been on the Clippers, the possibility that Leonard could face some form of league punishment—fine, suspension, even a voiding of his contract—was always a possibility, one the NBA made both teams aware of. Any suggestion that this was a surprise, league officials say, is disingenuous.

Addressing reporters, Silver appeared exasperated by it. The league “did not pause the trade,” Silver said. He called the idea that Leonard’s issues would go away because he was traded “not credible.” The two teams made the decision “given that the investigation remained open and any possible impact on Kawhi or his contract was yet to be known.”

Added Silver, “They chose not to live with that uncertainty. But that was well known before the trade was 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.”

But when will it? Silver said he was “hopeful” the investigation would be wrapped up by this summer, but offered no further clarity. Pressed by Sports Illustrated, Silver says he receives regular updates on the progress from Rick Buchanan, the NBA’s general counsel, who stays in frequent contact with investigators at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the law firm the league contracted to dig into the Clippers.

“I don’t know specifically what will be in the report,” said Silver. “Best of my information is the report is not done.”

Clearly, Silver is aware of some of Wachtell’s findings. And he admitted the investigation has “gone on longer than I would have hoped.” Still, Silver said it was important that the firm be allowed to finish its work. He could tell them to stop, Silver said. But it would risk tainting the results.

“The benefit of an independent investigation is they have their own credibility on the line,” Silver said. “And presumably, I can count on Wachtell to say to me, ‘Well, of course, ultimately if you say we have to stop, we’ll stop. But in our report, we’re going to say we were required to stop before we felt we had a complete understanding of this situation.’ ”

There’s good reason to reach that understanding. Any punishment of the Clippers could mean a showdown with Ballmer, the world’s 13th richest person, per Bloomberg, with a net worth of $145 billion. Even if a league penalty doesn’t extend to Ballmer, he could choose to fight the NBA on anything tangible, a fight that could drag out for years and cost millions.

“I understand why people who haven’t lived in these kinds of investigations are frustrated,” said Silver. “But also, on one hand, we want to respect everyone’s rights here. Certainly, if any of us were being 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 is comprehensive and that to the best of our ability, we’ve discerned what actually happened in this situation.”

Which means Leonard’s return to Toronto will remain in limbo. Silver said the investigation needs to be wrapped up by the start of next season, but that’s months away. A report from a yearslong investigation will be voluminous, and Silver will need time to study its findings before determining if they warranted any punishments. The end of the Clippers investigation is coming, Silver promised. Just not yet.

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