Will he come or not? Toronto Raptors fans were excited to hear that Kawhi Leonard was returning the city where he helped the team win a championship in 2019. But the star player is also involved in an investigation by the NBA into some allegedly shady salary cap shenanigans by his current Los Angeles Clippers team.
Recently, it was reported that Leonard would report to the team’s training camp ahead of the new season. Good news for fans who were stressing out about whether or not Leonard would actually be able to play this season.
Now, there is more. And it’s not good news.
According to a report from former ESPN contributor Pablo Torre, Leonard allegedly had a previously undisclosed sponsorship agreement with Daktronics, the company behind the massive “Halo Board” scoreboard inside the Los Angeles Clippers’ Intuit Dome. Torre, citing anonymous sources connected to the arena and the Clippers organization, reported that the deal may have been worth millions and was allegedly used to funnel money to Leonard outside of his NBA contract.
One anonymous source quoted in the TSN article said the sponsorship was “1,000% a way to circumvent the salary cap.”
This is a new wrinkle in the entire Leonard situation and the NBA investigation. Although it is also unclear if the NBA already knew about this as part of its own proceedings.
According to TSN, NBA investigators have spent months examining whether sponsorship agreements involving Leonard were used to provide compensation outside the league’s salary-cap rules. The Clippers have repeatedly denied those allegations.
For Toronto, every new Kawhi story seems to reopen an old wound. Leonard delivered the greatest season in Raptors history, leading the franchise to its only NBA championship in 2019 before departing for Los Angeles in free agency.
There’s no indication this investigation changes things. But for a fan base eager for another Raptors championship run, it’s cause for concern.