Kawhi "no-show job" that paid $28M

[RapsFanInOhio]

Anything less than six draft picks would mean the COMMISSIONER HAS NO RIZZ / L RIZZ.

Stern didn’t play.

[Zeno]

One thing I find fascinating is how many posters think "because Ballmer is one of the richest owners, so Silver will appease him".

I think that's wrong. Silver answers to all 30 team owners - regardless of how much each owner is worth (they bought their NBA team already). Ballmer's behaviour hurts all 29 other owners. Silver will not appease the few (Ballmer) to hurt the many (29 other owners).

The owners clearly don't care all that much about this. It seems that the punishment is not up to Silver's discretion here and is codified in the CBA. For a first offense, the penalties are:
• Fine up to $4.5 million for a first offense; up to $5.5 million for a second or later offense
• Forfeit one first-round draft pick
• Void the offending player contract, extension, or other tainted transaction

That's extremely lenient and hurts the player more than the team. If all this costs is $4.5m and a first round pick, there are many scenarios in the NBA where the cost-benefit analysis says is worth it to engage in cap circumvention - for example signing or re-signing a star. So we can only deduce that the owners aren't all that concerned with cap circumvention here, or at the very least prefer to hash it out among themselves and leave the league office out of it.

If Silver wants, it is pretty easy to see how Balmer can be seen to have committed multiple cap circumventions here. It is 4 payments of 7 million yearly for example.

[JB7]

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Spoiler:

Reading this, I'm more bullish that the NBA will actually come down on them. It's basically a textbook case. When the only termination clause is leaving the Clippers and the services rendered are zero, it's obviously compensation for basketball services. They weren't being subtle. And they were compensating him above the market value of Leo Dicaprio and Robert Downey Jr.

This company going under and this all becoming public is the perfect opportunity for the league to look tough on this - even if it's not much different from deals happening elsewhere. The excess of it, the sloppiness, and it all surrounds LA's 2nd favourite team and a star pretty much aging out of being that marketable anyway. I think they suspend Ballmer from basketball activities, maybe move the all-star game, and they could actually aim to void Kawhi's contract. I wouldn't have thought that when this news first broke but it just looks worse and worse.

Not a lawyer, but that last 'and' between (i) and (ii) could be contentious.

The Clippers could theoretically argue that it meets criteria (i) but not (ii)

That ‘and’ gave me pause too, but remember that Kawhi did extend for less aav and duration than his max each time, most recently by $70 million total. ‘Substantially’ isn’t a defined term but the league could definitely say that’s substantially less than his market.

Also the “can be inferred when:” jumps out at me, because it means these circumstances are all the league really needs to rule on the violation. They don’t need a hard copy of Ballmer laying out the scheme - the standards are more lax than prosecuting a crime for instance.

Wouldn't his market value have been a 5 year max deal, if that was what the Raps offered?

[DelAbbot]

One thing I find fascinating is how many posters think "because Ballmer is one of the richest owners, so Silver will appease him".

I think that's wrong. Silver answers to all 30 team owners - regardless of how much each owner is worth (they bought their NBA team already). Ballmer's behaviour hurts all 29 other owners. Silver will not appease the few (Ballmer) to hurt the many (29 other owners).

Ballmer is not just "one of the richest", he's also worth more than the valuation of all NBA teams combined.

So what? He's controlling interest is still only 1 team out of 30. The NBA doesn't need his wealth for further economic expansion.

[mkot]

Raptors came to terms with Kawhi leaving for his home town.

Now that we know he left for some shady money deal, I don't think he has any legacy left here in Toronto.
Dude should get booed if he ever returns.

To be fair, this scandal had nothing to do with his first contract. I understand there could be some kind of deal or promise in place during his first contract with the Clips but that's all speculations until proven.

[PushDaRock]

Not a lawyer, but that last 'and' between (i) and (ii) could be contentious.

The Clippers could theoretically argue that it meets criteria (i) but not (ii)

That ‘and’ gave me pause too, but remember that Kawhi did extend for less aav and duration than his max each time, most recently by $70 million total. ‘Substantially’ isn’t a defined term but the league could definitely say that’s substantially less than his market.

Also the “can be inferred when:” jumps out at me, because it means these circumstances are all the league really needs to rule on the violation. They don’t need a hard copy of Ballmer laying out the scheme - the standards are more lax than prosecuting a crime for instance.

Wouldn't his market value have been a 5 year max deal, if that was what the Raps offered?

The fact that he's taken less than the full max 3 times with the Clippers does raise some interesting questions. The first time you could say was justified because it got Kawhi to 10 years before he could opt out for the higher max but the other 2 times is highly questionable given his extensive injury history.

[Reeko]

By the sounds of it Silver is going to have to do something. According to the CBA even circumstantial evidence of cap circumvention is enough to punish a team. Apparently the other owners are furious about this and I think if Silver sits on his hands he risks losing the respect and confidence of all of the league's owners. As for Kawhi, I think there's a real possibility that he's on his last NBA contract if it isn't outright voided by the league and I think given his injury history and lack of availability in combination with the scandal he could see himself blackballed from the NBA. IMO Kawhi's hands aren't clean in all of this, he asked for this additional money.

[OakleyDokely]

Really comes down to how the other 29 owners react. If they want to make an example out of Ballmer, then Silver will need to be tough despite how much he'd love to just brush this under the rug and pretend it never happened.

[Tripod]

Ya, I can separate Kawhi the player from Board Man Gets Paid.

In the end, he was playing hurt as a Raptor player throughout the run and probably took years off his career because of it. Ultimately, they won a title, which is the most important thing.

This is very much an ownership issue. Ballmer agreed to this, and he should pay the biggest price.

"Tree Man Gets Paid"

[PhilBlackson]

All I know is we better get their draft picks, not some bs "forfeited" nonsense.

It's only fair that the team that got screwed be compensated.

[Zeno]

By the sounds of it Silver is going to have to do something. According to the CBA even circumstantial evidence of cap circumvention is enough to punish a team. Apparently the other owners are furious about this and I think if Silver sits on his hands he risks losing the respect and confidence of all of the league's owners. As for Kawhi, I think there's a real possibility that he's on his last NBA contract if it isn't outright voided by the league and I think given his injury history and lack of availability in combination with the scandal he could see himself blackballed from the NBA. IMO Kawhi's hands aren't clean in all of this, he asked for this additional money.

If it is up to the other owners, i think voiding Kawhi’s contract would be seen as a gift to Balmer. Maybe, they suspend Kawhi but leave him on the Clippers cap….

[anotherhomer]

Karma

[brownbobcat]

One thing I find fascinating is how many posters think "because Ballmer is one of the richest owners, so Silver will appease him".

I think that's wrong. Silver answers to all 30 team owners - regardless of how much each owner is worth (they bought their NBA team already). Ballmer's behaviour hurts all 29 other owners. Silver will not appease the few (Ballmer) to hurt the many (29 other owners).

Ballmer is not just "one of the richest", he's also worth more than the valuation of all NBA teams combined.

So what? He's controlling interest is still only 1 team out of 30. The NBA doesn't need his wealth for further economic expansion.

Does a journeyman get disciplined more harshly than star player?

The NBA wants owners/investment from guys like Ballmer, there's definitely going to be more leniency vs. an owner like Sterling

[MoneyBall]

By the sounds of it Silver is going to have to do something. According to the CBA even circumstantial evidence of cap circumvention is enough to punish a team. Apparently the other owners are furious about this and I think if Silver sits on his hands he risks losing the respect and confidence of all of the league's owners. As for Kawhi, I think there's a real possibility that he's on his last NBA contract if it isn't outright voided by the league and I think given his injury history and lack of availability in combination with the scandal he could see himself blackballed from the NBA. IMO Kawhi's hands aren't clean in all of this, he asked for this additional money.

Jontay Porter got banned for less. If proven true, Kawhi should get the same penalty imo.

[SharoneWright]

This is very much an ownership issue. Ballmer agreed to this, and he should pay the biggest price.

Agreed to it!? He literally funded it. That's the issue. His MONEY (forget his approval) went to Aspiration for the explicit reason to pay it to Kawhi. Ballmer used Aspiration as a flow-through. I'm sure Aspiration got to keep a few of the 50 million for their trouble.

And the fact that it was a "no-show job" might sound salacious, but it is completely beside the point. A company can write whatever contract is wants with an employee/endorser. Kawhi could've even "showed up" and run a bunch of TV commercials for them and it's the same problem. The point is that it was Steve Ballmer's money.

[WuTang_CMB]

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[Tacoma]

By the sounds of it Silver is going to have to do something. According to the CBA even circumstantial evidence of cap circumvention is enough to punish a team. Apparently the other owners are furious about this and I think if Silver sits on his hands he risks losing the respect and confidence of all of the league's owners. As for Kawhi, I think there's a real possibility that he's on his last NBA contract if it isn't outright voided by the league and I think given his injury history and lack of availability in combination with the scandal he could see himself blackballed from the NBA. IMO Kawhi's hands aren't clean in all of this, he asked for this additional money.

His hands were never clean going back to his San Antonio days. His innocent low-key demeanor is a façade that hides a very calculating person. He has his uncle Dennis doing all the dirty work and taking the fall, but Kawhi is in full control at the helm behind the scenes.

Ballmer is taking almost all the blame on this but Kawhi is just as guilty. He benefits the most out of this under the table deal.

[SFour]

Raptors came to terms with Kawhi leaving for his home town.

Now that we know he left for some shady money deal, I don't think he has any legacy left here in Toronto.
Dude should get booed if he ever returns.

still doesn't deserve to get booed, he played in the Bucks/Warriors series with an injury.

Come on, why are we acting like he was doing it for the team's benefit, it was important for him to play to boost his reputation after forcing his way out of San Antonio. He was a free agent. This was him vindicating himself.

Clippers would've still signed him anyways, they were desperate. Kawhi already proved himself in the Sixers series.

[SFour]

Raptors came to terms with Kawhi leaving for his home town.

Now that we know he left for some shady money deal, I don't think he has any legacy left here in Toronto.
Dude should get booed if he ever returns.

still doesn't deserve to get booed, he played in the Bucks/Warriors series with an injury.

Kawhi has more than enough money, this under the table stuff is to please the people around him (Uncle Dennis). If you want to boo Uncle Dennis then that makes alot more sense.

This is a bit silly. "My uncle wanted all this shady illegal stuff, not me!"

I'm not saying Kawhi is innocent...just that this isn't enough for him to be booed by an entire fanbase.

I think he still goes to the Clippers even without this under the table stuff

[deeps6x]

Not sure why people think there won't be serious backlash and penalties against the Clippers for this.

I don't think Ballmer will be kicked out of the league, but I think it's a real possibility Kawhi's contract gets voided and the Clippers have record setting fines and picks revoked.

I agree. They are in a very difficult situation with this. The owners basically put in the 2nd aprons and a whole load of new restrictions based on nerfing Balmer types. They aren’t going to just smile and look the other way on this blatant disregard for the rules. If they void his contract though, that is a gift to the Clippers. Maybe they void the contract but leave a dead cap hit on the Clippers books, though I can’t imagine the Players Association would allow that. Finding an effective punishment for Balmer will be difficult if this is all true and this is way worse than the Joe Smith thing.

Maybe it's just me being cynical, but I don't agree that they put in the 2nd apron and the 'whole load of new restrictions' to 'nerf' Balmer types. I think the league did this to profit from the Balmer types that choose to overspend on their teams.

I'm sure all of the billionaire owners want to win a championship every year, but they all realize that the odds of even making it to the finals are super slim, so they treat it as a business first, and crave income more then winning a championship.

In light of that, I'm sure they are all demanding some massive fine that they can profit from. I definitely don't think they kick Balmer out of the league, or even take away first round picks. AND that of course, assumes that they can prove he violated league rules at all, after their investigation. I don't think they'll be able to, or willing to do this.

But the Clippers and Balmer definitely took a huge hit in the ol' public opinion area. He can't buy his perceived reputation back.