Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[omahen]

Yeah it will be interesting to see what happens here.  

Certainly shady by Leonard, but I think the Clippers should get the bigger penalty.   If I am Leonard and his agent, I am exploring any avenues for extra money.   It is it on board?  Probably not, but I put more of the blame on the Clippers for creating these avenues.    A $ fine will do nothing for Balmer.  It is too bad they didn't wrap this up prior to the draft.   I would have liked to see the Clippers forfeit the #5 pick.   It sounds like Balmer is going to fight this, so it will be interesting if the league is up for a fight.  I would guess no.  

Bigger question is if this is common with other teams?  Seems like an easy way to skirt the tax.    If the Clippers get a slap on the wrist, I think this opens the door for other teams to look to do the same thing.    Maybe not a no show deal, but other avenues.   Heck, I am sure Marina Bay Sands in Singapore could have a meet and greet event where a few million is left in the room after.

This under the table payments are a very grey area imho. I wouldn't be surprised if it is more spread around. Teams/owners helping to create sponsorship deals for players. However it seems at least, that the Clippers and Kawhi went too far. It was too obvious with the no-shows and too many people involved and it became public. Still probably very difficult to prove beyond doubt. 

We had a similar situation with free agency. Teams were/are not supposed to negotiate with players before the free agency opens, yet it became very obvious that everyone is doing that as deals were announced immediately after free agency opened. Until everything went too far and Bucks screwed up with their Bogi SnT. The League had to step in and impose a penalty. The deal was annuled and Milwaukee was punished with a SRP. Similar punishment received a couple of other teams and now everyone is much more careful. For example, I think Kessler to LA deal was agreed before FA start, but everyone involved was keeping the charade and it was formally agreed to only on (I think) second day of free agency. I think that because Claxton went for free just before free agency and I think there were another center opportunity or two, yet Lakers patiently waited for FA (although it was obvious they would be totally screwed if they couldn't do the Kessler deal). I would find it very strange if teams would be willing to take such risks basically waiting for one player.

Based on this I think this case will go a similar way. Slap on a wrist would definitely be a signal to others that this is ok, on the other hand a severe punishment would drag the whole process as Balmer will definitely fight it. I think it is in everyones best interest that this comes to a closure soon. This would mean not a very drastic punishment to Clippers to set an example but high enough to send a message that everyone should be more careful. 

While Kawhi is definitely not the only one to blame here, it is probably much easier to punish a player and also sending a message to players, that they should not seek such ways. If I put myself into Silver position, I would try to reach an agreement that Clippers are fined with a loss of their next FRP and Kawhi gets fined for 30 or something games. This would allow everyone to move on. If Balmer doesn't want to make a deal, than the thing will drag on, imho. Than the league and everyone else is actually losing with the bad publicity and deals being held. I think other owners would push for more severe punishments the longer this thing would drag on.