The NBA investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap by paying Kawhi Leonard through endorsement deals appears to be moving toward a conclusion, but a clear resolution remains elusive.
ESPN reported on Monday that the league found no evidence that showed Clippers owner Steve Ballmer sent money through team sponsors to pay Leonard that would have circumvented the rules, according to three sources.
However, ESPN said that the NBA is still zeroing in on whether introducing Leonard to team sponsors constitutes “a violation of the league’s rules prohibiting salary cap circumvention” and instead is assessing whether the Clippers are guilty of “failure to supervise” employees, according to their sources.
It remains unclear, however, what specific rule the team would have violated or what the penalties would be. One penalty mentioned would be voiding Leonard’s contract, which became a sticking point in the trade with the Toronto Raptors.
The trade, which sent Leonard to the Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and a slew of draft picks, was paused until the investigation was completed and without a definite conclusion, the teams remain in limbo.
The Clippers on Monday again denied circumventing salary cap rules, saying in a statement that “the central fact remains true and unchanged: the Clippers did not funnel money to Kawhi Leonard, arrange for others to compensate him on our behalf, or otherwise provide him with undisclosed compensation outside of his NBA contract.”
The 11-month investigation looked into whether Leonard violated salary cap rules with his deal with Aspiration, the now-defunct green banking company. The NBA expanded the investigation to at least three other companies that also had deals with the Clippers, two of the sources told ESPN. However, sources said the league has presented no evidence that Ballmer funneled money to Leonard.
On Monday, NBA spokesperson Mike Bass issued a statement disputing ESPN’s story, saying “ESPN’s article regarding the LA Clippers investigation – for which the NBA declined to cooperate – contains numerous and significant inaccuracies. The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded.”
A spokesperson for the Clippers declined to answer questions by the Southern California News Group about the initial findings or the ongoing discussions, referring to the team’s statement that said the team “introduced players, including Kawhi Leonard, to companies with which we had business relationships.
“Making introductions between players and team partners is both an ordinary practice by NBA teams and a common request of players and representatives.
“The fact that a player has an endorsement relationship with a company that also does business with his team is not evidence of salary-cap circumvention.”
The Clippers were presented with early findings of the investigation by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, in late July, ESPN reported.
The NBA’s investigation began in September 2025 after podcaster Pablo Torre cited internal documents that showed Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration, through his personal LLC in September 2021.
The Clippers also signed a $300 million deal with Aspiration later that month that made the company the “first founding partner” of the Intuit Dome.
Seven months later, Aspiration signed a $28 million endorsement deal with Leonard. According to Torre, an unnamed employee who purportedly worked for the banking company told him that Leonard’s sponsorship deal “was to circumvent the salary cap.”
Ballmer made an additional $10 million investment in Aspiration on March 9, 2023.
Recently, the league’s investigation has examined deals Leonard has with companies including Daktronics and Boingo Wireless, a wireless provider for the Intuit Dome, according to ESPN sources.