What’s next for the teams that missed out on LeBron?
With LeBron headed to Philadelphia, the other finalist teams need a new plan. What should their next move be?
Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers are still under investigation for an alleged “no-show” agreement with a now defunct company, Aspiration, to funnel extra compensation to the player in a deal viewed as salary cap circumvention.
But another company may have had similar, previously undisclosed dealings with Leonard, according to a report by the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out.”
Daktronics, the company that designed the Clippers’ video board inside the Intuit Dome where they play home games, reportedly had an agreement and partnership with Leonard.
Torre’s podcast cites multiple anonymous sources inside the Clippers and Intuit Dome project. A person who was previously under contract with the Intuit Dome project alleged the sponsorship “was 1,000% a way to circumvent the salary cap. It was funneling money from the Clippers through Daktronics back to Kawhi.”
USA TODAY reached out to the Clippers for comment on Thursday evening.
The podcast asked Daktronics to confirm if Leonard had an endorsement deal, but the company directed them to a spokesperson for a crisis management firm who said, “My understanding is Daktronics doesn’t have a deal with Kawhi right now.”
Asked for clarification, the spokesman said “I don’t know what the company wants to say, or can say, given the Wachtell investigation and all that,” referencing the investigation into the alleged Aspiration deal.
Leonard’s seven-year tenure with the Clippers appeared to be over this summer as he was going to be traded to the Toronto Raptors on June 30.
That trade has since been halted because of the investigation that involves Leonard, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Leonard’s uncle/advisor Dennis Robertson. The Clippers would’ve received forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks (2031, 2033), two second-round picks (2030, 2033) and a 2027 first-round swap in the trade.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver previously told reporters in mid-July that his timeline for the investigation to conclude would be by the end of the summer.
“As I’ve said previously, we all have an interest in wrapping this up,” Silver said. “… I am hopeful it will wrap up this summer and that will continue to be the goal here.”
The investigation is being run by an external law firm but the findings will be presented to Silver, who will then decide on any potential discipline.
Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, provided some of the last public comments from the organization regarding the investigation on June 23.
“I can’t comment on the specifics of the investigation, but what I can say is we did not do what we are accused of doing,” Frank said. “The investigation has had no impact on how we go about our business. We just continue to go about our business as normal.”