TORONTO (AP) -Kawhi Leonard\u2019s trade to the Toronto Raptors is on hold pending the outcome of the NBA\u2019s investigation into whether the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented salary cap rules, the teams announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
It does not necessarily mean that the trade is off. The Raptors said they still want Leonard, and the Clippers, in a statement sent to multiple outlets including The Associated Press, again insisted that they are not guilty of any wrongdoing related to an endorsement contract between Leonard and a now-bankrupt California-based digital bank that touted itself as environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n
But the probe, as detailed by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, could lead to penalties that include a substantial fine, the loss of draft capital \u2014 and, potentially, even the voiding of a player contract \u2014 if the league finds there was a deliberate circumvention of cap rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d the Raptors said. \u201cIn light of this, we will wait until the league\u2019s investigation is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no timetable for the conclusion of the NBA\u2019s probe, which is being performed by outside counsel \u2014 Wachtell Lipton, a New York-based firm. Commissioner Adam Silver said in recent weeks that he\u2019d like to see a conclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy instruction to them is we can\u2019t be investigating forever. At some point you have to wrap it up,\u201d Silver said last month at the NBA Finals. \u201cBut at the same time, the most important thing is that we get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through a spokesman, the NBA said Thursday that it doesn\u2019t \u201chave a specific timeline for the conclusion of the investigation but expect the firm to finalize its work in the coming weeks\u201d<\/p>\n
The NBA opened an investigation back in September into whether a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC \u2014 a company that filed for bankruptcy in 2025 \u2014 broke league rules, following a report by journalist Pablo Torre. Last month, Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding investors and lenders of at least $248 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the heart of this investigation are Joe Sanberg and Aspiration,\u201d the Clippers said Thursday in a statement. \u201cWe did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard through Aspiration. Like many sophisticated investors, financial institutions, and business partners, we were victims of a fraud initiated by Sanberg, who has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize the uncertainty this has created and the impact it has had on our team, our fans, the Raptors organization, their fans, and the players whose futures remain affected while this process continues. We remain confident that, when the facts are evaluated fairly and thoroughly, the NBA will confirm exactly what we have said from the beginning: We have not done what we are accused of doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
For its part, Toronto reaffirmed that it still wants to acquire Leonard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Raptors remain eager to bring Kawhi back to Toronto and look forward to a swift resolution for our players, our organization, and our fans,\u201d the Raptors said.<\/p>\n
The Raptors and Clippers struck a deal on June 30 on a trade that would send Leonard back to the city that helped win the 2019 NBA championship.<\/p>\n
The Raptors agreed to send Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, two second-round picks and pick swaps to the Clippers for Leonard \u2014 who spent one season in Toronto, and that was the year the Raptors won their lone title.<\/p>\n
He turned 35 earlier this month but is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Clippers in 65 games.<\/p>\n
Leonard is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, a two-time NBA champion (also winning in 2014 with San Antonio) and is generally considered one of the game\u2019s top defensive players. He has said there was no wrongdoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TORONTO (AP) -Kawhi Leonard\u2019s trade to the Toronto Raptors is on hold pending the outcome of the NBA\u2019s investigation into whether the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented salary cap rules, the teams announced Thursday. It does not necessarily mean that the trade is off. The Raptors said they still want Leonard, and the Clippers, in a … Continue reading Raptors and Clippers put trade for Kawhi Leonard on hold, pending end of NBA investigation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1452],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1523413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-07-12 13:02:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1523413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1523414,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523413\/revisions\/1523414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1523413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1523413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1523413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}