BREAKING: LAC Kawhi Leonard Found to Circumvent Cap

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

Considering he asked the Raptors in 2019 for several things that were very similar to this Aspiration deal such as asking for up to 15 million match in sponsorship deals and ownership stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs, that already establishes a pattern of behavior with Leonard asking for more than he can/should in FA. 

But I don't think the NBA needs this as a smoking gun or even a pattern of behavior. This just LOOKS bad. The optics alone are enough to call into question the entirety of the NBA. If there is no steep punishment, why wouldn't other teams do something very similar to circumvent the cap? Why have a cap at all? 

Alone, Kawhi and the Clippers have created a situation that pokes holes into the very foundation of the cap and the respect of the rules. And that assumes that we are buying this story that this shell corporation actually duped Steve Balmer by the tune of 50 million, and in that very same month gave Kawhi a 20 mil advance for signing and a 28 mil bogus promotional deal. 

It's ridiculous. I know we throw around hyperbole all the time but Silver is by far and away the worst commissioner of the 4 major sports in America. Since he's come in, the NBA has gotten harder to watch, more expensive to attend, ads on jerseys, and so many scandals that have gotten off easy. If Silver overlooks this it'd be yet another referendum of how he truly doesn't understand how to run the NBA.

100% correct up until the Silver part.

[F Gump]

ONE GENERAL REPLY. My comment that a "smoking gun" could come by finding another example of something like this occurring with Kawhi/LAC (either before or after Aspiration with another sponsor) and/or with LAC/other player is not saying that's the only way to prove malfeasance here. Nor is it saying that another instance is necessary to prove this one. Sheesh, c'mon, think. 

There can be many different ways to validate the claims.

I'm just suggesting one place to look that to me seems like worth exploring -- and consider, if Kawhi was chasing such an illegal deal when he was a FA in 2019, how come he only got that deal in 2023 after his next contract with LAC? It sure seems like there could be at least one other of these that happened, waiting to be discovered. And if it happened with Kawhi, how about Paul George, or James Harden, or others who seemed to inexplicably sign team-favorable deals over the years (Batum for example)? Again, that additional instance with a different team sponsor would destroy the ability for LAC to claim this was all Aspiration's doing.

SOME SPECIFIC NOTES.
"...if a player's contract is voided for this scenario, does it still count against the cap?" --- I didn't see any particular mention of that issue in the CBA, but it would seem the answer would be "no," since the cap governs allowable player payroll by a team, and the contract is no longer being paid.

"it seems like a scenario could exist where it actually helps a team to void a max contract of an aging player that may or may not be worth it at the cost of 1 FRP and a 4.5M fine." -- I suspect that it would be difficult to find that "aging player" who wants his bloated contract to be voided.

"This just LOOKS bad. The optics alone are enough to call into question the entirety of the NBA." -- That's not how it works. Bad optics, by themselves, are not punishable. Never have been, never will be. Bad ACTIONS, on the other hand, are. These are rich people making rules on themselves, and they don't want to be screwed by their partners, but they also don't want to live under that level of scrutiny where suspicion (rather than proof) is all that's necessary. The NBA will have to prove that the Clippers were the ones making all this weirdness happen. 

As for whether this accusation somehow negates the NBA, that's LOL stuff imo. 

"that assumes that we are buying this story that this shell corporation actually duped Steve Balmer by the tune of 50 million, and in that very same month gave Kawhi a 20 mil advance for signing and a 28 mil bogus promotional deal." --- The Clipps stance is that the deals with Aspiration were not in that time frame at all, and happened independently without LA being involved, and that Ballmer/LAC were very arms length from whatever Aspiration was doing.

Are we sure all those acts happened together (the new Kawhk deal being signed, Ballmer sends money to Aspiration, Aspiration signs Kawhi to a weird deal)? I'm not. The question primarily isn't whether Kawhi got stupid money, but whether LA themselves orchestrated it (with Aspiration merely being a conduit), and suspicion isn't proof. One helpful avenue in proving what happened would be if anyone from Aspiration is willing to actually testify under oath or not -- the investigative reporting's (supposed) insider info was all anonymous unnamed sources afaik. 

"This isn't about rich people spending their money on whatever they want.  It's circumventing the salary cap." -- That's a circular argument, so it fails. Yes Aspiration spent money stupidly, but that doesn't prove it was an NBA-cap-related transaction. They aren't an NBA team. People can do stupid things with their money. What must be proven is the next step - "why" did they do so. Gotta prove it.

"Kawhi didn't endorse the company.  That's the point.  He did nothing." -- That merely says Aspiration spent money stupidly. Again, it doesn't say why they did so, and the "why" is what must be proven. The CBA itself is fairly clear that deals between players and team sponsors are not illegal and their existence is not proof of anything.

"So you want owners to be able to pay free agents whatever they want to pay?" -- I said no such thing. Personally I prefer a level playing field financially -- while at the same time recognizing I own no team, and the 30 NBA owners can do it however they please, so my preferences (and yours) really mean squat. 

I'm not trying to whitewash Ballmer/LAC. If he's playing fast and loose with the rules, throw the book at him. But the NBA will have to prove it first, and a story with attention-getting claims is not proof.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

New episode of Pablo's podcast dropped this morning. More allegations, this time against Clippers co-owner and Ballmer's old roommate Dennis Wong investing in Aspiration and the money being funneled to Kawahii

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKJyKFdT8rQ&ab_channel=PABLOTORREFINDSOUT

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

ONE GENERAL REPLY. My comment that a "smoking gun" could come by finding another example of something like this occurring with Kawhi/LAC (either before or after Aspiration with another sponsor) and/or with LAC/other player is not saying that's the only way to prove malfeasance here. Nor is it saying that another instance is necessary to prove this one. Sheesh, c'mon, think. 

There can be many different ways to validate the claims.

I'm just suggesting one place to look that to me seems like worth exploring -- and consider, if Kawhi was chasing such an illegal deal when he was a FA in 2019, how come he only got that deal in 2023 after his next contract with LAC? It sure seems like there could be at least one other of these that happened, waiting to be discovered. And if it happened with Kawhi, how about Paul George, or James Harden, or others who seemed to inexplicably sign team-favorable deals over the years (Batum for example)? Again, that additional instance with a different team sponsor would destroy the ability for LAC to claim this was all Aspiration's doing.

SOME SPECIFIC NOTES.
"...if a player's contract is voided for this scenario, does it still count against the cap?" --- I didn't see any particular mention of that issue in the CBA, but it would seem the answer would be "no," since the cap governs allowable player payroll by a team, and the contract is no longer being paid.

"it seems like a scenario could exist where it actually helps a team to void a max contract of an aging player that may or may not be worth it at the cost of 1 FRP and a 4.5M fine." -- I suspect that it would be difficult to find that "aging player" who wants his bloated contract to be voided.

"This just LOOKS bad. The optics alone are enough to call into question the entirety of the NBA." -- That's not how it works. Bad optics, by themselves, are not punishable. Never have been, never will be. Bad ACTIONS, on the other hand, are. These are rich people making rules on themselves, and they don't want to be screwed by their partners, but they also don't want to live under that level of scrutiny where suspicion (rather than proof) is all that's necessary. The NBA will have to prove that the Clippers were the ones making all this weirdness happen. 

As for whether this accusation somehow negates the NBA, that's LOL stuff imo. 

"that assumes that we are buying this story that this shell corporation actually duped Steve Balmer by the tune of 50 million, and in that very same month gave Kawhi a 20 mil advance for signing and a 28 mil bogus promotional deal." --- The Clipps stance is that the deals with Aspiration were not in that time frame at all, and happened independently without LA being involved, and that Ballmer/LAC were very arms length from whatever Aspiration was doing.

Are we sure all those acts happened together (the new Kawhk deal being signed, Ballmer sends money to Aspiration, Aspiration signs Kawhi to a weird deal)? I'm not. The question primarily isn't whether Kawhi got stupid money, but whether LA themselves orchestrated it (with Aspiration merely being a conduit), and suspicion isn't proof. One helpful avenue in proving what happened would be if anyone from Aspiration is willing to actually testify under oath or not -- the investigative reporting's (supposed) insider info was all anonymous unnamed sources afaik. 

"This isn't about rich people spending their money on whatever they want.  It's circumventing the salary cap." -- That's a circular argument, so it fails. Yes Aspiration spent money stupidly, but that doesn't prove it was an NBA-cap-related transaction. They aren't an NBA team. People can do stupid things with their money. What must be proven is the next step - "why" did they do so. Gotta prove it.

"Kawhi didn't endorse the company.  That's the point.  He did nothing." -- That merely says Aspiration spent money stupidly. Again, it doesn't say why they did so, and the "why" is what must be proven. The CBA itself is fairly clear that deals between players and team sponsors are not illegal and their existence is not proof of anything.

"So you want owners to be able to pay free agents whatever they want to pay?" -- I said no such thing. Personally I prefer a level playing field financially -- while at the same time recognizing I own no team, and the 30 NBA owners can do it however they please, so my preferences (and yours) really mean squat. 

I'm not trying to whitewash Ballmer/LAC. If he's playing fast and loose with the rules, throw the book at him. But the NBA will have to prove it first, and a story with attention-getting claims is not proof.

Ya, there is no "smoking gun" in finding repeat offenses.  This controversy stands on its own.  Other like offenses would add to the allegations, but are not necessary.  The "smoking gun" is facts of THIS allegation.

[omahen]

Fisher has an extensive article on the subject today on The Stein Line. A very good read. One thing I find very interesting. Fisher cited page 341 of the CBA, that says "punishment can be levied against a team or player if a violation of unauthorized agreements can be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence". Emphasis on circumstantial here and one could say that a lot of circumstantial evidence seemed to be presented already. Silver chose to go only for the direct evidence in his first statements. Article further focuses a lot on opinions around the league on the matter and it seems that it is mostly a big outrage, while there are some that took more of the Cuban stance on the matter.

[F Gump]

  The "smoking gun" is facts of THIS allegation.

... and imo the NBA may have a challenge getting actual proof that LAC/Ballmer controlled and orchestrated Aspiration's payments in this situation (as defined by the CBA) ... whether LAC or Aspiration was the one who had control was the  apparent dividing line

[Chicagojk]

Cuban really pushing the "smartest guy in the room" thing hard.   He and Pablo are going back and forth.  Supposedly Cuban has this all figured out.  LOL

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Cuban trying to stay in the spotlight. Just go away and enjoy your billions of dollars.

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

... and imo the NBA may have a challenge getting actual proof that LAC/Ballmer controlled and orchestrated Aspiration's payments in this situation (as defined by the CBA) ... whether LAC or Aspiration was the one who had control was the  apparent dividing line

You just identified the smoking gun

[Mavs2021]

Cuban really pushing the "smartest guy in the room" thing hard.   He and Pablo are going back and forth.  Supposedly Cuban has this all figured out.  LOL

He really needs to shut up. If people started to look into the history of the NBA Dirk´s deals would be the first to come under scrutiny. Besides genereally being underpaid for a decade, wasn´t there the "1+1", where he got something like the minimum one year and 25M the next.

[SleepingHero]

NBA Retweet (@RTNBA)
Steve Ballmer reportedly invested an additional $10 million in Aspiration in March 2023, during a period where the company was “bleeding cash, laying off employees, & struggling to raise funds”

per @MikeVorkunov

[SleepingHero]

NBA Retweet (@RTNBA)
Steve Ballmer reportedly invested an additional $10 million in Aspiration in March 2023, during a period where the company was “bleeding cash, laying off employees, & struggling to raise funds”

per @MikeVorkunov

Didn't Cuban say to Pablo that Ballmer would've kept up payments so the House of Cards wouldn't have fallen down...? Doesn't this qualify?

[SleepingHero]

@pablofindsout

EXCLUSIVE: Kawhi Leonard's $1.75M "no-show" payday was running late.

Then, per new documents obtained by @PabloTorre, the Clippers' co-owner invested $1.99M in the team's broke sponsor.︀︀ Nine days later, Kawhi got paid.
︀︀
︀︀"It is beyond shocking," an Aspiration executive says.

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/ohnohedidnt24/status/1966219080228286528

@Windhorst

"These revelations that came out today had substantially less plausible deniability because of the amounts, because of the relationships involved. This one is going to be harder to explain...this probably will widen the scope of the investigation"

[SleepingHero]

@SamQuinnCBS
The thought I keep coming back to on the Kawhi scandal:

If everything Pablo Torre has reported isn't enough to warrant a substantial punishment, that means cap circumvention is basically unprovable. And if that's the case, I imagine that emboldens other bad actors to circumvent.

[SleepingHero]

@hmfaigen
"I've spoken to multiple team strategists, for example, who told me, with chests puffed, that if the Clippers aren't docked multiple first-round picks — if Leonard's contract isn't voided while his salary obligations remain on the Clippers' books — they will feel emboldened to seek out their own version of shell companies to provided additional compensation to their players."

Some interesting reporting from
@JakeLFischer for @TheSteinLine:

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/adam-si...mail-title&publication_id=392205&post_id=173358112&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=3hamv&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

[SleepingHero]

@Fullcourtpass
In 2022 Kawhi Leonard played in 26% of games due to “right knee stiffness” before the reported $1.75M delayed payment was made by Aspiration

The day after it was deposited, Leonard went on to play 82% of the Clippers total games to close out the season

[KillerLeft]

@Fullcourtpass
In 2022 Kawhi Leonard played in 26% of games due to “right knee stiffness” before the reported $1.75M delayed payment was made by Aspiration

The day after it was deposited, Leonard went on to play 82% of the Clippers total games to close out the season

This is crazy, and starting to feel mildly depressing to me. I'm not naive - at least I don't feel like I am - but this type of thing reveals a pit of cynicism that might eventually suck the fun out of the league for me. 

I really hope an example is made of LAC and Kawhi, even if it's only just to maintain the appearance of some type of fair, rule-based structure.

[SleepingHero]

This is crazy, and starting to feel mildly depressing to me. I'm not naive - at least I don't feel like I am - but this type of thing reveals a pit of cynicism that might eventually suck the fun out of the league for me. 

I really hope an example is made of LAC and Kawhi, even if it's only just to maintain the appearance of some type of fair, rule-based structure.

The thing is, I believe this entire situation is not common amongst other stars or teams. Hell, I don't think any competitive superstar ever had the thought cross their mind that they should feign an injury until their under-the-table cap circumvention check comes through. That's why they need to be punished accordingly. 

If we are going to take all of this circumstantial evidence at face value, then Kawhi should be banned from the league for life and his contract forfeited. The Clippers should be forced to keep Kawhi's deal on their books and lose what's left of their trade-able FRPs. 

This is worse than the Joe Smith debacle.

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

NBA Retweet (@RTNBA)
Steve Ballmer reportedly invested an additional $10 million in Aspiration in March 2023, during a period where the company was “bleeding cash, laying off employees, & struggling to raise funds”

per @MikeVorkunov

It was a money-laundering pass-through.  Balmer's biggest problem may be the IRS...