Another day, another twist and turn in the Kawhi Leonard saga. This time, Pablo Torre has reported that Leonard had another undisclosed sponsorship with the Clippers’ scoreboard company, Daktronics. This comes as Leonard and the Clippers are still being investigated for the Aspiration scandal, and the evidence for salary cap circumvention only seems to be mounting by the day.
In the midst of all of this, a major transaction is being held up as the Clippers and Raptors agreed on a trade involving Leonard almost a month ago that would have sent Kawhi to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks.
But with the investigation seemingly far from resolved, that deal is on hold as the players and teams are in limbo with no clear end in sight. And the worse this gets, the longer it’s going to take, and the more of a disaster it appears to be for everyone involved.
Celtics' 2028 pick from Clippers looking better and better
On the other hand, for the Celtics, this is pretty great news. They are deeply invested in the Clippers as they now likely control their 2028 first-round pick, unprotected, which they received from the 76ers in the Jaylen Brown trade. That looked like an intriguing asset from the jump, but the more information that comes out, the better it looks.
They can’t get on with their rebuild until they finish this business with Kawhi, and if this trade doesn’t end up going through, they’ll be even more stuck with an expiring Leonard, or worse, his contract being voided. They may not even receive the picks or any return from the Raptors, and may face further sanctions from the NBA, which could limit their ability to spend or make other deals in the future.
They’re pretty much stuck for as long as this goes on, and depending on the results, they may be crippled for years to come with no real means to build a competitive team for a long time. That ‘28 pick just looks juicier and juicier, and with the new lottery reform, there’s not much that LA can do to change that other than hope for the best.
Raptors stuck in purgatory
Boston has itself an amazing trade chip that has to be among the most desirable ones that have been moved recently. They can likely use it as a centerpiece in a deal for almost any star that becomes available, or they can simply keep the pick and draft the next star in what’s shaping up to be a loaded 2028 NBA Draft.
It also doesn’t hurt that the Raptors are no closer to getting Kawhi, without whom they aren’t truly contenders in the Eastern Conference. They aren’t exactly rivals or anything, but that’s one more team in the division that looked like they were going to be in the title mix and now the Celtics won’t really have to worry about.
We’ll see how this all plays out. We haven’t exactly gotten any solid indication from the NBA or any of the teams about how this is going to go. But from the outside looking in, the Clippers and Kawhi look awfully guilty, and it’s hard to imagine Toronto is okay moving forward with this trade without any resolution.
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