Clippers' Kawhi Leonard trade delay shouldn't change what needs to happen

A week has passed since the NBA announced that the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard had been punished for violating salary cap circumvention rules, and the long-awaited trade with the Raptors still hasn't gone through. Given the circumstances, it's understandable to be concerned, but it makes sense when you look at the situation as a whole.

As Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported on Tuesday, the Clippers are "still working through their new front office structure after NBA suspensions for Steve Ballmer, Lawrence Frank."

Ballmer is suspended from all league functions for a year, while Frank, president of basketball operations, is suspended without pay for six months. Gillian Zucker, the president of business operations, is suspended without pay for one year.

Los Angeles' front office took a hit, and it needs some structure in place before the deal proceeds, since Ballmer and Frank can't take part in it. The expectation is that GM Trent Redden will step into the role of interim president of basketball operations, but that hasn't been confirmed.

Clippers need the trade to go through

Some have interpreted the deal not yet being made official as a way for Los Angeles to get back at Leonard, who walked away from the ordeal relatively unscathed with only a $700,000 fine. He's not facing any suspension.

The thing is, the Clippers need the trade to go through. Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, two first-round pick swaps, and a second-round pick are on the line, so now isn't the time for Los Angeles to be petty. It needs to add those assets to its chest after the league docked the organization five first-round picks as a penalty.

It seems the Clippers are trying to sort things out internally, which is understandable given the shake-up, before proceeding with the trade.

As Sam Amick and Law Murray of The Athletic reported on Tuesday, Toronto, Leonard, and the other players involved in the deal "remain very confident" that the trade will be made official soon (subscription required).

Kawhi has been operating that way since the deal was first reported at the end of June. As Fischer noted, the forward is spending time in Miami this week with Raptors players, who will hopefully officially be his teammates in the coming days. Training camp is just a few weeks away, and this deal needs to be settled before then. The good news is that it seems like it will be.

Los Angeles needs to get its affairs in order first and pinpoint a leader to close the deal, which should be the first order of business once someone steps in to temporarily fill Frank's shoes.

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