Things continue to get worse for Kawhi Leonard. Could the Toronto Raptors end up benefiting from the chaos?
The evidence mounting against Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers is towering. The twisted web of investments, agreements and payments involved with the sham company Aspiration is slowly being unraveled, and it's not looking good for any party.
As first reported on by Pablo Torre of "Pable Torre Finds Out", Steve Ballmer -- billionaire owner of the LA Clippers -- invested $50 million in a company that was ostensibly planting trees to offset carbon emission footprints. That company then agreed to a "no-show" contract with Kawhi Leonard for a total value of $48 million; essentially, Leonard did absolutely nothing in return for the money.
What's more, new evidence has come to light that when the company was in the midst of falling apart and laying off its employees, they had no money to pay Leonard. Clippers co-owner Dennis Wong then invested $2 million into Aspiration so that just over a week later that money could be paid out to Kawhi.
There are plenty more details uncovered by Torre and his team, and if you have not been following this story, you should do so. It has the potential to be a watershed moment for the NBA. A team has not been slammed to the floor for salary cap circumvention since Joe Smith and the Minnesota Timberwolves had an in-writing agreement to do so. That was over 25 years ago, and teams have steered clear -- or not been caught -- in the years since.
The evidence mounting is significant, but to this point it is still circumstantial. There is no guarantee that Adam Silver and the league office will act on it, nor that they will push the penalty button to its utmost. Yet one of the very real consequences facing the Clippers is the voiding of Kawhi Leonard's contract, immediately making him a free agent.
The Toronto Raptors could sign Kawhi Leonard
If Leonard were to hit the open market sometime this season, there would be a market to sign him. Even with all of the unflattering reporting about what Leonard and his camp have demanded from teams over the years, even with his chronic injury issues. A player of his caliber is a rare thing in the NBA, and multiple teams will want to take a shot at adding someone who, when healthy, can have a two-way impact like few others. Kawhi at his best is still a Top 10 player -- for the handful of games each season he can be at his best, at least.
Would Kawhi sign with any team out there to compete for a title? Perhaps, although he has won titles before. He also may be willing to ease off of the crazy demands for extra benefits, at least while things die down. That may mean choosing a franchise where he is comfortable and had his greatest individual success -- the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors have expressed a desire to improve in the short-term, and adding a player like Kawhi Leonard would certainly help them to do that. They know better than most how much of an impact he can have, and he should have some level of trust in the organization to manage his physical conditions and put him in a position to succeed.
Will the demands that Leonard and his camp made of the franchise when he left in 2019 be too great a barrier? It's possible. Will the shape of the Raptors' roster make for an awkward fit? Almost certainly. It would be a strange gamble, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.
There is a lot of ground still to cover with this story and the league's investigation, and both Leonard and the Clippers could escape the worst penalities -- or perhaps any penalties at all. More so than with any star player in a very long time, however, there is a meaningful chance that Leonard's contract is voided. If that is the case, then he will be in search of a new home.
What about a return to Toronto? It's unusual, somewhat crazy, but very possible. And that would shake up a lot of things for the Raptors and their roster. But could it also bring a different level of postseason success? It's on the table.
It adds yet another interesting wrinkle for Toronto fans as they watch this story play out.