Clippers' Clear Lack of Plan for a Kawhi Leonard Punishment Is Embarrassing

It has been a week since the NBA announced its punishment of the Los Angeles Clippers, stemming from the cap circumvention investigation. Even though the process took a year, it seems like the Clippers were caught off guard by the league's punishment. The lack of preparation and planning on the Clippers' side has been made evident over the last week, and this is yet another embarrassing display from the franchise.

On Tuesday, NBA insiders Jake Fischer and Marc Stein reported that a big reason why the Kawhi Leonard-to-Raptors trade hasn't gone through is "the Clippers working through their new front office structure after NBA suspensions" for the top brass.

This is difficult to fathom. This trade was agreed upon two months ago. Lawrence Frank and Steve Ballmer may be suspended, but it's not like the Clippers have to negotiate a new deal with the Raptors. How is there not a plan in place in preparation for this situation?

Clippers' Arrogance Continues to Hurt the Franchise

The fact that the Clippers are still not able to finalize the trade and officially end the Kawhi Leonard trade is embarrassing. They have seemingly not even considered the possibility that the league may punish them despite the mounting, incriminating evidence in the investigation.

This is in line with the reporting out of LA. NBA journalists Brian Windhorst, Tim MacMahon, Zach Lowe, Chris Mannix, and Jon Krawczynski all discussed their interactions with the Clippers' front office throughout the investigation, and they all shared how the organization acted as if this was much ado about nothing.

It's obviously one thing to act like you are completely innocent in front of reporters, but it's another thing to lie to yourself. The Clippers seemingly acted with such impunity that they didn't think for a second that the league might bring down the hammer.

This is a continuation of arrogant behavior from the Clippers. This arrogance was clear in the Clippers' communications after the punishment.

Instead of taking any responsibility for their actions, the Clippers released a statement in which they tried to disparage Pablo Torre as a "podcaster" and his investigative reporting as "podcast allegations". They mentioned the money Ballmer spent on the investigation and the Clippers' cooperation with the process as evidence of their innocence rather than responding directly to the allegations.

The way the Clippers have handled themselves, not only in their dealings with Kawhi Leonard but also since the punishment, is deeply unprofessional and unserious.

If they had at least made a plan in case of a punishment, they could have closed this chapter by now and moved on. Instead, Clippers fans have to continue to wait until their franchise gets its act together.

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