The NBA did not flinch. After investigating the Los Angeles Clippers for salary cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard, the league handed down the heaviest set of penalties in its modern history.
The Clippers were fined $30 million. They forfeit five first-round draft picks, one each in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033. Owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year.
Leonard was fined $700,000 and was not suspended.
The Executives Got Hit Too
Gillian Zucker, the Clippers president of business operations, was suspended without pay for a year. Lawrence Frank, the president of basketball operations, was suspended without pay for six months.
Stripping a franchise of half a decade of first-round picks and removing both its owner and its top basketball executive is a structural dismantling. The league did not aim for a headline number and stop there.
What The Investigation Found
The NBA identified a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the organization.
On Leonard’s side, the league found that he violated circumvention rules through his uncle and former business manager Dennis Robertson by pressuring the Clippers to help him obtain off-court income opportunities, successfully obtaining those opportunities, and failing to reimburse the Clippers for personal expenses they covered.
That framing matters. The league concluded this was not a paperwork error. It was a scheme with participants on both sides.
Why Leonard Skating Is The Right Call
There will be people arguing Leonard should have been suspended, and Danilo Gallinari has already said publicly that Leonard “deserves to pay the full amount.” That take does not survive contact with how the cap actually works.
Teams circumvent the cap. Players benefit. The enforcement mechanism has always been aimed at franchises because franchises are the ones bound by the cap in the first place. A $700,000 fine plus the reputational hit is a real penalty for a player who did not construct the arrangement.
Draymond Green made a version of this argument on his podcast, calling the idea of taking $50 million from a player disgusting. He is right about the principle even if you think Leonard deserved worse.
The Clippers Are In Real Trouble
Leonard is now with the Toronto Raptors. The picks are gone through 2033. Ballmer, the wealthiest owner in American sports and the person who has bankrolled everything the franchise has built, cannot be in the building for a year.
Losing five first-rounders removes a rebuilding team’s only reliable path back. The Clippers spent a decade and a new arena trying to become a destination. This punishment sets them back longer than any bad contract could have.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.