Remember how good it felt when Kawhi Leonard chose the Los Angeles Clippers over the Raptors and Lakers in 2019? With him and Paul George, there was hope for what was to come. Six years later, that hope has all but dissipated with the report from Pablo Torre that the Clippers circumvented the cap for Kawhi. Now, there's another bombshell report (subscription required)!
No, we're not talking about the report from the Boston Sports Journal that stated Kawhi "cut a side deal" with Aspiration, worth approximately $20 million, which would be paid in company stock from co-founder Joe Sanberg. There is yet another development.
On Tuesday, Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star reported that "multiple sources with knowledge of Toronto's contract negotiations with Leonard in 2019 told the Star that Leonard's uncle and representative, Dennis Robertson, made demands that line up almost perfectly with what Leonard reportedly got from Aspiration."
What were those demands?
Arthur wrote they were trading for Paul George, ownership in the Toronto Maple Leafs, ownership in outside companies that MLSE "had a relationship with," and matching a minimum of $10 million per year in "extra sponsorship income."
The Raptors reportedly told Kawhi's camp about the sponsors in Toronto that would "be happy to have Leonard as a pitchman." The response to that was that Kawhi didn't actually want to do anything for the money, hence a no-show job.
In 2019 Kawhi Leonard’s uncle asked the Raptors for a piece of the Leafs and a Paul George trade, but also for two big extras: no-show sponsorships, and ownership shares in outside companies. Which he seems to have gotten with Aspiration, and the Clippers. https://t.co/ekgaN7FAfc
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) September 9, 2025
Things could get really grim for Kawhi and the Clippers really soon
Steve Ballmer denied that LA circumvented the cap for Kawhi in an interview with ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne. The league hired a law firm to investigate Torre's findings. Adam Silver has made it clear that circumventing the cap is a major no-no (which should have been clear already), so if that's what Ballmer and LA did, Kawhi and the Clippers will face a harsh punishment.
If you were a fan still feeling optimistic about Los Angeles' chances of escaping this situation unscathed, do you still feel that way? This isn't the kind of fire that goes away. Arthur's report is more fuel for a fire that appears to be well on its way to engulfing the Clippers.
It's looking less and less like Aspiration "scammed" the Clippers, considering a couple of years ago, Kawhi's camp requested that the Raptors help them with a similar "scam."
There is nothing left to do but wait to see what the law firm uncovers. Try not to spiral too much about what could happen to the Clippers in the meantime. The key word there is try.