They should strip the clippers of their rings they won with Kawhi

If they let this go, it’s basically mlb rules 

the off the books part is what changes everything. teams do the wink wink future deal thing all the time, but actual cash under the table means the cap is basically fake.

I think the biggest issue is the “no show” part of the contract

There is a lot of mixed business between teams / owners / players that could be scrutinized but usually passes the sniff test.

For example the Raptors are owned by MLSE which is owned by Rogers communications.

If Rogers gives Kawhi $10M to star in some cell phone commercials, which he films and they broadcasts, is that cap circumvention? Probably not, happens all the time (as long as it isn’t discussed or guaranteed as part of contract negotiations)

The issue is Aspire was giving Kawhi millions and expected him to do no work for it

I’m so sorry man.

They are also directly avoiding paying the NBA the fees for the apron they would have obliterated.

This is getting into fraud territory, which is why I imagine it’s taking so long.

Nothing will happen is my guess

teams do the wink wink future deal thing all the time,

What do you mean. Bucks are being investigated for this.

Also consider the difference between a NIL deal with a team sponsor and what happened here with Aspiration.

It wouldn’t take much to connect a player to a team sponsor. The sponsor was already going to spend money on the team. They do a commercial or a billboard and it’s legitimate. The lines are too blurry to catch anyone.

Now look at Aspiration. Ballmer seeded them with the money to do it and it’s a total no-show job. It’s broken on both ends. The whole company is a fraud – how do you explain a “secret endorsement” any other way? What were they using Kawhi’s NIL for?

Correct they gained illegal leverage that caused Kawhi not to choose Lakers or Raptors.

Like you said future deals happen all the time. I think the league would rather keep this quiet instead of opening Pandoras box.

We’d probably have dozens of contract investigations each year and thats just a lot of excess paperwork to deal with.

Especially when you consider that cash under the table is cash that’s not counting towards their luxury tax payments. That’s money coming directly out of the pockets of the owners of non-tax teams. There were just 6 tax paying teams this year, so Ballmer’s stealing from 24 teams. When the owners vote on what to do, I think that’s how it’s going to shake out, non-tax teams vote to punish him.

[deleted]

I thought Kawhi got the max, was that not good enough for Dennis? I guess other teams could pay him more?

That’s what I don’t get here. Like, I get that they don’t want to piss off their golden goose; but if there are no consequences then EVERY owner will be doing this tomorrow.

Owners agree. Otherwise Ballmer can just put spend everyone. Itnallso greatly impacts luxury tax payments which go to the other teams.

“The NBA” is just the owners and I would say yes, many of them agree. Not only does Ballmer’ cap circumvention financially impact them negatively but not all owners are trying to cheat the system. We already know Kawhi tried to get “illegal” payments from the Raptors and Lakers and both of them shut him down because it wasn’t permitted.

So many people have already made up their minds that Kawhi, Ballmer, and the Clippers will face no punishment which is completely ignorant of Wachtell Lipton’s history of league investigations. They’ve been involved in investigating three different owners. The result of each of those investigations was the owner losing his ownership of the team. While I don’t believe Silver has the integrity to remove Ballmer, which would be the appropriate punishment for committing the “cardinal sin,” I don’t believe Silver can allow to let this slide with minimal punishment. The NBA is dealing with a serious issue with trust and integrity in the sport right now, moreso than the other major leagues. I don’t believe he can let this slide and the final report is going to be damning. The evidence against the Clippers is pretty much conclusive from what we’ve seen and Wachtell Lipton has already uncovered more than Pablo could have. I doubt we’ll ever get to see a transcript of it but the conversation with Sandberg and the investigators could have given them an admittance of salary cap circumvention from someone who could give a definitive answer. The victim impact statement Ballmer’s lawyers sent to the judge indicates to me that Sandberg ratted Ballmer out because it was not the letter of someone trying to keep Sandberg quiet. The tone of the letter was a vindictive asshole who was furious at Sandberg for letting this get out and then ratting on him to the investigators.

The bucks are also being investigated for cap circumvention…

Very good point. I hadn’t thought about it like this, but salary caps literally exist to protect owners

I was confused that they weren’t more pissed off when it came out tbh.

Plus, Ballmer has more money than the rest so he could potentially do this with as many people as possible. Could you imagine if he had bought the Lakers? We’re lucky the Clippers aren’t a storied franchise or he’d have gotten way more free agents doing this strategy

No it doesn’t. You can be under the cap but if the arena isn’t selling out and people aren’t buying popcorn and beer you make less money. 

Which is why owners have an incentive to pay players who put butts in seats under the table. 

The cap is protect small market teams from teams like the clippers who has an owner that can buy the nba. 

This! I don’t see how the owners don’t care. In the clippers case, I believe they were above the cap AND above the luxury tax threshold. So this means it’s not a simple 7 million a year that they didn’t pay but an increased percentage too. Luxury tax is distributed amongst the owners that stay below as profit. I don’t know the number of teams below the line each year, but assuming it’s around ¹⁄₂ of the league means ¹⁄₂ of the owners lost potentially 1 mil each.

I don’t think the owners want to vote Ballmer out, but they want to at least fine him. The minimum I think he should be fined is the luxury tax he should have paid with like another 50-100 mil as breaking the rules situation. This is the bare minimum IMO, but they should definitely take away some picks too to make sure he can’t just escape punishment with just his money.

KL is given a lifetime ban from playing in the NBA or participating any adjacent activities, I.e., no banners, HOF, etc.

This is pure fantasy and will never happen.

Lmao this has reddit mod energy

You’re over complicating this the real solution is remarkably simple: just kill KL

Punishing Kawhi with a lifetime ban is so ridiculously draconian. Make him pay a fine if you want, sure. But thats the not the players responsibility to follow the cap rules. Hammer the team that set this up for him

LMAO 🤣🤣 try again

thats a great idea but I think what you suggest is out of the scope of section 13 of the CBA. sorry.

“This whole thing is so easy to resolve. Just put Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu in prison. Take away the money and power of Musk and Bezos. Cure cancer and stop climate change… etc.”

It’s easy to say what you’d like to happen, but you’re ignoring all the structural, systemic things that get in the way of that.

Adam Silver is not your friend. He’s not going to do what’s right simply because it’s right. He’s deeply influenced by what the owners want. The League itself is not “easily” going to do things that are not the bidding of the powerful people who control it. It’s a club, and they don’t want to sacrifice their own. Especially when Ballmer is the wealthiest of them all.

I hope the League gives a significant punishment, but there’s no point in fantasizing about how “easy” this is. We need to keep public pressure and attention on it, and then maybe Silver will do something meaningful, but it’s like pulling teeth to get these guys to do something right.

That’s part of the reason this is all taking so long- the owners all have to agree to the principle of it. If some owners have these loosely related businesses giving players hand shake deals then they’ll want light punishment.

There can be a range of thoughts regarding this activity. Other owners may consider competitive fairness, while others may be considering self-preservation or owners rights in general.

When the Sterling leaked conversation fiasco was happening that led to Ballmer, Mark Cuban was a voice against with the idea that it was a slippery slope for that trajectory to occur off a leaked conversation.

A GM works for the owners though.

Not harsh enough. Balmer should be forced to sell the team and Kawhi’s contract should be voided. That’s the only proper punishment I can think of that Silver is actually allowed to do and fits the severity of the situation.

Its as If you want teams to start doing this

League fucked the T-Wolves for less over Joe Smith. Hamstrung the franchise for multiple years.

Feels like Balmer would sue for any kind of penalty given regardless which could take years to resolve. This is going to be a long process even after the investigation is completed.

“Effective immediately, I am banning Mr. Leonard for life from any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA.”

“Adam Silver has reportedly collapsed in his NY city apartment. Rescuers say not to worry as they have reportedly scooped him back into his human-shaped jello mold.”

I’m not sure how getting removed from his position will save his run.

If he tries to drop the hammer owners will simply fire him.

Did you even read what they said?

One was still done under the cap, the other was done completely outside of the cap. That’s the difference.

How is that hard to understand?

Ballmer is going to be litigious and vindictive. Guessing no one wants the smoke. 

The cap also limits the players too. Kawhi in 2019 was a max contract guy. Every team would have the same contract except Raptors with a longer term. But with this extra side deal, Clippers contract is a lot better than other teams. This is the problem.

Team can still add small perks like meal expense, better locker room, or discount tickets for friend/family. But team can’t pay for a house, boat or car for the player.