Steve Ballmer Blocks Kawhi Leonard Trade Talks, Committed To Building Clippers Around Him

Post #1 » by **RealGM Wiretap** » Wed Jun 17, 2026 5:59 pm

Read this story on RealGM.com.

TheCage4 · Post #2 » by **TheCage4** » Wed Jun 17, 2026 8:07 pm

Ballmer and Ishbia are going are too committed to their "guys" (Kawhi & Booker) for their franchises to be truly competitive.

Pickled Prunes · Post #3 » by **Pickled Prunes** » Wed Jun 17, 2026 9:14 pm

TheCage4 wrote:Ballmer and Ishbia are going are too committed to their "guys" (Kawhi & Booker) for their franchises to be truly competitive.

Balmer with Kawhi for sure, but I don't see a better option in PHX. They finished a a 7th seed in the West. Their option is to trade Brooks to a team that is one $70m SG away from contention. In return they get 3-4 late 1sts and hope that one of those picks is better than Booker 5-8 years from now. I think they are better off staying the course.

AdamSSSlither · Post #4 » by **AdamSSSlither** » Wed Jun 17, 2026 9:49 pm

ballmer is now held hostage by kawhi because he knows too much.
if kawhi doesnt get his pay...i mean way....it will be trouble.

BigHustle · Post #5 » by **BigHustle** » Thu Jun 18, 2026 1:32 am

Save a tree man!

Future Coach · Post #6 » by **Future Coach** » Thu Jun 18, 2026 2:29 am

AdamSSSlither wrote:ballmer is now held hostage by kawhi because he knows too much.
if kawhi doesnt get his pay...i mean way....it will be trouble.

Potentially.

Could also be a case that he doesn't want to move Kawhi given how much extra (via salary cap circumvention) he was paid previously. In theory this should be a cheaper contract, though it's all peanuts to Ballmer anyways given his obscene wealth

niha17 · Post #7 » by **niha17** » Thu Jun 18, 2026 2:30 am

FrobeBryant · Post #8 » by **FrobeBryant** » Thu Jun 18, 2026 4:06 am

Kawhis job is not finished with the Clips. He’s got more trees to plant.