2 Things Could Keep Mavericks From Trading for Kawhi Leonard

The Dallas Mavericks have been mentioned as a team that have had trade discussions with the LA Clippers regarding two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard.

The trade package that's been reported thus far is P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson, and draft capital, but there would likely have to be other pieces involved to make the finances work.

However, after the report came out on Sunday evening that the Mavs had shown some interest, it didn't take long for other reports to come out about Leonard's situation with the Clippers. While they might be exploring avenues for a trade, it's not guaranteed that the NBA would allow it to go through.

Here are two reasons why Kawhi Leonard may not be traded to the Mavericks.

Apr 5, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) before the game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Ongoing NBA Investigation With Kawhi Leonard/LA Clippers

The early part of the season was dominated by talks of the LA Clippers potentially circumventing cap rules by signing Leonard to a fake endorsement deal through Aspiration, a company that had a $300 million deal with the Clippers, and a company that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had invested $60 million into.

They had signed Leonard to an endorsement deal worth $28 million a year, but he never appeared in any campaigns or advertisements for them.

There also became an apparent dispute where Leonard started missing games because he hadn't received his endorsement money from Aspiration, and they have now gone bankrupt, with the company's co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, being sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for wire fraud.

The NBA is still investigating whether this endorsement deal was a way to circumvent the league's salary cap rules. Because of that, any trade for Leonard may be difficult.

However, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer, "We have yet to hear any suggestion that a potential Leonard trade would be held up by the league office because the NBA-commissioned external investigation into allegations of salary cap circumvention by the Clippers with respect to Leonard and the franchise's partnership with its former sponsor Aspiration is not yet complete."

While the wording could mean a few things, Fischer is saying that it doesn't sound like the NBA would stop any Leonard trade from happening, should one be agreed to.

Kawhi Leonard's Contract Situation

The other thing complicating matters is Kawhi Leonard's actual contract that he's on. He's entering the last year of his deal, worth just over $50 million, and ESPN's Shams Charania has indicated that the Toronto Raptors are the only team he'd be willing to sign an extension with.

That hasn't stopped Masai Ujiri before. When he was leading the Raptors and traded for Leonard in 2018, he did so despite Leonard entering the final year of his deal and without a promise of signing an extension. The move paid off with a championship, but Leonard left for LA that offseason.

If Leonard is already indicating that he'd only want to sign an extension with one team, there's no use in giving up future capital in order to get him.

In fact, Fischer also reported that "Dallas is not currently regarded as a plausible trade destination in this case and has not yet been presented to Leonard as such."

Luckily, it seems like the Mavs are not a serious option to trade for the now-35-year-old.

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