On Wednesday, Pablo Torre of Meadowlark Media dropped a bombshell of a report. The full episode is well worth a watch, but the TL;DR version boils down to this: The Los Angeles Clippers might have circumvented the NBA's salary cap by setting up a $28 million sponsorship deal with an LLC managed by Kawhi Leonard.
If the NBA determines these allegations to be true, the Clippers could be in a world of hurt. The league's collective bargaining agreement specifically says teams or team affiliates cannot enter into deals with players "involving compensation or consideration of any kind or anything else of value." Teams also can't "enter into an agreement or understanding with any sponsor or business partner or third party under which such sponsor, business partner or third party pays or agrees to pay compensation for basketball services."
The Clippers flatly denied that they were involved in any sort of salary-cap circumvention, but the devil might be in the details here. The penalties could be as high as a $7.5 million fine, forfeiture of draft picks, a one-year suspension for any team personnel who were knowingly involved and the voiding of Leonard's contract (!).
The Clippers' loss could be the Philadelphia 76ers' gain in that regard.
How the Sixers stand to benefit
Two years ago, the Sixers traded James Harden to the Clippers for a package including two future first-round picks and a first-round pick swap. The Sixers already flipped one of those picks, but they still have control of the Clippers' fully unprotected 2028 first-round pick and have swap rights on the Clippers' 2029 pick as long as it's outside of the top three.
Those aren't the only first-round picks that the Clippers owe elsewhere. They're also sending their fully unprotected 2026 first-rounder to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Thunder have the right to swap 2027 first-round picks with them as well. The Clippers don't have control over any of their own first-round picks until 2030.
If the NBA does eventually strip one or multiple first-round picks from the Clippers, it presumably wouldn't touch the 2026 or 2028 ones since the Clippers already owe them elsewhere. However, the league theoretically could strip them of the 2027 and/or 2029 picks after the Thunder and Sixers decide whether to swap picks. That could further deplete the Clippers' ability to replenish their roster with young talent.
The bigger issue from the Clippers' perspective could be how the league handles Leonard. If this results in his contract being voided, it could have devastating trickle-down effects.
Leonard is under guaranteed contract for $50.0 million this year and $50.3 million for the 2026-27 season. As of now, Ivica Zubac and rookie first-round pick Yanic Konan Niederhauser are the only two players whom the Clippers have contracted in 2027-28, which means they could be staring at a blank slate in 2027.
If the NBA voids Leonard's contract, though, that might accelerate the demise of this era of the Clippers.
Harden has a $42.3 million player option for 2026-27, while the Clippers have team options on Bogdan Bogdanović ($16.0 million), Brook Lopez ($9.2 million) and Nicolas Batum ($5.9 million). If Leonard is no longer with the Clippers, will Harden be willing to ride out the twilight of his career on a team without a co-star? Or will the Clippers be able to land a new co-star to convince him to stay?
The 2026 free-agent class is already getting whittled down after the likes of Luka Dončić, De'Aaron Fox and P.J. Washington have signed extensions in recent weeks. There are still a few big-name players available—LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the most notable ones—but beyond that, Trae Young and Kristaps Porziņģis might be the best unrestricted free agents on the market.
If Harden opts out and leaves, would the Clippers pick up their options on Bogdanović, Lopez and/or Batum? They might be tempted to go full blank-slate and try to lure two max-contract stars again, but the NBA's new salary-floor rules would make that approach risky as well. Teams now have to reach the salary floor by the first day of the regular season—it used to be the last day of the regular season under the previous CBA—so if they whiff on the biggest names, they'd have to overpay other free agents just to reach that threshold.
If nothing else, this situation adds far more uncertainty to the Clippers' long-term outlook, which stands to benefit the Sixers. Depending on how the NBA's investigation into these allegations unfold, that unprotected 2028 first-round pick could become one of the more valuable trade assets in the league.