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

[Freeman6]

Pablo gonna fall out of a 50 floor new York window lol.

And speaking of new York what about that deal where Brunson took the short? Surely Dolan is even grimier than balmer.

Hope silver cooks those frauds.

[Kurtz]

Josh Lewenberg from an article in 2019:

"In some cases, they were asking for things that Ujiri - one of the most well-compensated executives in the league - wouldn't even had at his disposal. Their requests were "unreasonable", a source said, which made the Raptors wonder whether Leonard was seriously considering them at all"


Raptors and probably the Lakers weren't willing to do this, Ballmer was fine with it, though.

Raptors couldn't even if they wanted to - the owners are publically traded corps and they couldn't hide a transaction like that. With Lakers, I'm not sure as its an investment trust with a number of partners who would have to be in the know.

With Clippers it's easy - an owner with unlimited money who can distribute it unilaterally. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd done this with other players too.

[redeye514]

Unsurprising TBH. Masai alluded to the level of which the Clippers were willing to circumvent the salary cap rules years ago when he de-briefed with some media after Kawhi made his decision. I'm paraphrasing here cause this was a long time ago, but he basically said something like we all know there are perks, (private planes, preferred family tickets, side endorsements, etc.) but that Kawhi / Uncle Dennis were making requests that made him (Masai) feel uncomfortable and that Masai was unwilling to agree to, but that Clippers were. Masai didn't talk much on it, and when I heard it at the time I thought Masai was clearly throwing the Clippers under the bus and that the media / somebody would dig further into what Masai was actually hinting at, as it sounded messed up, and really, f#k the Clippers. But clearly no one did at the time.... until now.

Again.

F#k The Clippers.

*EDIT*

Should have read the whole thread first to see OakleyDokely dug up one of the references:

Josh Lewenberg from an article in 2019:

"In some cases, they were asking for things that Ujiri - one of the most well-compensated executives in the league - wouldn't even had at his disposal. Their requests were "unreasonable", a source said, which made the Raptors wonder whether Leonard was seriously considering them at all"


Raptors and probably the Lakers weren't willing to do this, Ballmer was fine with it, though.

[OakleyDokely]

I'm guessing this isn't the first time for Ballmer either.

That Brunson deal is shady as well. No player loves a city so much that the leave 10s of millions on the table.

Hopefully, more stuff comes out.

[Mack11]

Man clippers really gave up an arm and a leg for someone that wanted to "go home"

[Raptorfan2012]

Maybe we can extend RJ to a much cheaper contract, but Rogers gives him and his family premium phone and cable plans.

[sidsid]

Loving the parts about the charisma vacuum being added to the celeb list.

https://bsky.app/profile/pablo.show/post/3lxwuusnnw22t

In terms of fan self interest and precedent setting, I'm for the option of pick(s) going to the aggrieved party, not just forfeited. You've lost valuable assets to a league banned deal that impacts the product.

[ForeverTFC]

Nice breakdown by Sam Quinn at CBS: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/kawhi-leonard-contract-nba-clippers-steve-ballmer-uncle-dennis-no-show-job/

So the heaviest price is paid by the player.

I hate the conspiracy theories as much as the next guy, but given how insignificant these penalties are to the team engaging in cap circumvention, it tells me the owners collectively have blessed it as a practice. A good owner should circumvent that cap if all it costs them is a $4.5m fine and at most the loss of a first round pick.

Is it even that heavy of a price for hte player, if there's nothing there preventing him from simply resigning another contract?

Not that it's a heavy price, but losing your bird rights and going into this current FA market is a far worse penalty than $4.5m and a potential first round pick imo. The owner penalty is so laughable, I'm almost mad at Masai/MLSE for not going along with his uncle's demands.

[Potential]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[carlosey]

Theres fraud involved here so there will be some strong consequence for Balmer I feel

[sidsid]

Maybe we can extend RJ to a much cheaper contract, but Rogers gives him and his family premium phone and cable plans.

As a plan B, why not have a league wide "you can do a little crime, as a treat" for everyone but the Clips. Up to the dollar amount of the crime. Like those one-time amnesty bail-outs the leagues periodically due when owners **** up too much.

[Grew]

We tried to slide uncle dennis a canada goose jacket under the table, then gave Kawhi a house plant. I guess it wasn't enough.

[Basketball_Jones]

It was rumored that when Kawhi was negotiating this next deal with us they were asking for stuff like this. Barf.

Yeah I remember hearing they were asking for stuff that was impossible and not normal lol. Glad the Clippers conceded to those demands though.

[Tha Cynic]

Remember this isn’t Toronto executing this. It’s an LA based team. If you think the NBA didn’t know about this and turned a blind eye…

[Morris_Shatford]

I am looking forward to a thorough investigation spearheaded by the NBA commissioners office which will clear the Clippers of any wrong doing in the coming months.

[Tha Cynic]

Kawhi needs to be suspended for the season without pay and Ballmer needs to be forced to sell the team. You can’t just take away a second round pick here. Banhammer so teams don’t feel like they can get away with this.

Agreed. This is a huge scandal and directly affects the competitive nature of the entire business. Raptors just came off a championship and lost him to this team.

[Tofubeque]

I can’t help but think of David Stern’s “I know where the bodies are buried” comment and I’m guessing this isn’t a first time for the league.

Honestly surprising this doesn’t happen more out in the open, with companies known to be owned by Ballmer. What would anyone do about it? It’s a country where unlimited money can be thrown at any problem, including political campaigns. The rich are laughing at us.

[Tha Cynic]

Force Ballmer to sell and boot Kawhi from the league.

Set a precedent. What better way to appear "tough" on this than to ban a player who wasn't gonna play much anymore anyways.

Again agreed. A legit punishment would be this. But this is the NBa. It won’t happen

[Parataxis]

So the heaviest price is paid by the player.

I hate the conspiracy theories as much as the next guy, but given how insignificant these penalties are to the team engaging in cap circumvention, it tells me the owners collectively have blessed it as a practice. A good owner should circumvent that cap if all it costs them is a $4.5m fine and at most the loss of a first round pick.

Is it even that heavy of a price for hte player, if there's nothing there preventing him from simply resigning another contract?

Not that it's a heavy price, but losing your bird rights and going into this current FA market is a far worse penalty than $4.5m and a potential first round pick imo. The owner penalty is so laughable, I'm almost mad at Masai/MLSE for not going along with his uncle's demands.

Ah, I didn't realise that it also involved losing your Bird rights, rather than just cancelling the current contract.

[ItsDanger]

It is laughably easy to circumvent the salary cap. World is a big place and NBA has next to no power in this regard.