Clippers' Intentional Delaying of the Kawhi Leonard Trade Is Raising Eyebrows

It has been ten days since the NBA dealt its severe punishment to the LA Clippers, stemming from the cap circumvention investigation. The initial expectation was that the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors would be finalized in the ensuing few days, but that hasn't been the case. In fact, the seemingly intentional delay on the Clippers' part is now raising eyebrows around the league.

Earlier in the week, it was reported that the reason for the delay in the finalization of the trade was the suspension of the Clippers' top brass. Because Steve Ballmer, Lawrence Frank, and Gillian Zucker were all suspended by the league, the Clippers don't have a governor or a lead basketball executive in charge. LA was reportedly dealing with the front office shakeup before officially signing off on the trade.

This wasn't the most convincing argument at the time, and now it sounds even less believable. It's not like the Clippers needed to negotiate the deal. The trade has been agreed upon for over two months.

All the Clippers need to do is have an interim executive sign the necessary paperwork. It's difficult to believe that there isn't a mechanism in place in the organization for situations like this. Giving someone a power of attorney or signature authority simply shouldn't be this hard.

Why Are the Clippers Dragging Their Feet About the Kawhi Leonard Trade?

In fact, NBA insider Marc Stein had a fascinating report on Friday. He said that "there is no hold up at the league level" regarding the Kawhi trade, and that "the Clippers and Raptors are free at any time to co-submit for NBA approval."

This suggests that it has to be the Clippers holding up the finalization of the trade. Everything that is coming out of Toronto since the punishment points to the Raptors being very much interested in getting the trade done as previously agreed upon.

Naturally, speculation has begun about what the Clippers' intentions may be. Could this be a way of screwing over Leonard? Could they be working on a separate trade with a different team behind the scenes? Could they be trying to leverage the Raptors into giving them more in the trade?

All of these are possible. Ballmer and the NBA are in an active fight right now, and no one would put it past the Clippers owner to try to make things as hard as possible for Leonard and the league.

Reneging on this previously agreed-upon trade would significantly hurt the Clippers' already damaged reputation. It's hard to say that this is definitely what Ballmer & Co. is planning, but it shouldn't be ruled out at this stage.

Until the Clippers' leadership ends its deafening silence about the trade, these rumors aren't going anywhere. The Kawhi Leonard saga, with all of its twists and turns, may have yet another surprise in it.

Add us as a preferred source on Google