Clippers Hit With Five-Pick Penalty and $30 Million Fine in Leonard Case

The Los Angeles Clippers will have no natural first-round draft pick from 2029 through 2033 after the NBA concluded that the franchise circumvented salary-cap rules while recruiting Kawhi Leonard, according to The Guardian World. The league also fined the Clippers $30 million and barred owner Steve Ballmer from all NBA and team activities for one year. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank received a six-month unpaid suspension, while president of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended without pay for a year. Leonard was fined $700,000. NBA commissioner Adam Silver described the violations as serious and said the punishment reflected what he characterized as failures by both the organization and its leadership. The league’s investigation was conducted by New York law firm Wachtell Lipton after journalist Pablo Torre reported allegations about Leonard’s recruitment. According to the investigation’s conclusions cited by The Guardian, the Clippers helped create off-court income opportunities for Leonard involving four companies that did business with the team: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance. The report also said the organization facilitated endorsement agreements, offered business incentives to companies involved, paid personal expenses for Leonard and his representatives, and failed to report improper solicitations made on his behalf. Torre had reported that Aspiration, a now-defunct tree-planting company partly funded by Ballmer, entered into a $28 million agreement with KL2 Aspire, a company owned by Leonard. The report said the agreement could pay Leonard even without work being performed and could be voided if he left the Clippers. The Guardian also reported that a former Aspiration employee said they had heard the arrangement was intended to bypass the salary cap. These claims were part of the reporting that preceded the NBA investigation. Leonard said through his agent that he accepted responsibility for lapses in judgment by people in his inner circle but denied knowing about any effort to evade the cap. The Clippers rejected the NBA’s findings, calling the investigation biased and saying they would challenge the decision through available legal and arbitration processes. A proposed trade sending Leonard to the Toronto Raptors had been placed on hold while the investigation was completed, The Guardian reported.