If Silver hands out punishment equivalent to Joe Smith is Kawhi the GOAT

[Sixers in 4]

Of the worst signings or trades of all time.

Just for the record,

Joe Smith
Five first-round picks
3.5 Million fine

The transaction already
Kawhi has missed 30 percent of Clippers playoff games and 45 percent of regular season games.
Kawhi has a losing playoff record even in the games he played 17-18
The Clippers have, since 2020, been eliminated in the first round every season or missed the playoffs entirely.

He forced them to acquire George who cost them five first-round picks, two swaps, and SGA plus Gallo. George has since walked as a FA for nothing

So at the end of the day the signing of kawhi could cost them
10 first-round picks
2 pick swaps
3.5M or greater fine
SGA
Gallo

How does that compare to other terrible trades or signings? Well, we have

Herschel Walker
Three first-round picks, if memory serves, eight total. Most of the damage was done with who they took

Babe Ruth
Sold for 150000; hard to top but I think a Joe Smith punishment pushes it over the top

Kobe for Valde

Pedro Martinez to Montreal for Delino DeShields

Celtics get Robert Parish and the No. 3 pick for the number one pick

Celtics get Tatum for Fultz plus another pick

The Luka trade for AD plus filler

To me it depends on the punishment but if Silver gives the Clippers the Joe Smith treatment, Kawhi should easily be the goat of worst transactions

[LakersLegacy]

Balmer had the rules changed so it’s now a single first round pick taken instead of 5.
Balmer advocated for this after Kawhi asked for a similar deal from the Raptors

[brutalitops]

Wont be the Joe Smith treatment, Stern would of burnt down the target center If he could

Will be multiple picks and end up being what was ultimately the Joe Smith penalty AFTER it was appealed

[Lockdown504090]

People dont understand what the nba is doing in this investigation. I feel like people are going to be disapointed in the outcome, no matter how much they explain the reasoning.

[Black Jack]

It's 2025, rich people get to do whatever they want. Stop your hopes & dreams people, Ballmer will skate.

[manlisten]

Why do people think Silver is soft on major infractions like this? Sterling, Sarver, Ja, Porter all happened under his watch. Where is this idea coming from? Seems more like mindless group think than reality.

[Lalouie]

you're only looking at the result and not the cause

the cause is kawhi and uncle dennis

[One Last Shot]

Why do people think Silver is soft on major infractions like this? Sterling, Sarver, Ja, Porter all happened under his watch. Where is this idea coming from? Seems more like mindless group think than reality.

The idea comes from the actual CBA. At worst, Clippers will lose multiple draft picks I don't think Ballmer care for that much and maximum fine of $7.5 million.

The penalties for violating the CBA's rules against cap circumvention are multi-faceted and at the commissioner's discretion.

Forfeiture of Draft Picks: The league can force a team to surrender draft picks. The number of picks can vary, with some past punishments involving multiple first-round picks.

Voiding of Contracts: Contracts that were involved in the circumvention can be voided.(Kawhi is under new contract now so I don't think Silver will void it.)


Examples of Circumvention Violations

Secret Agreements:
Deals or understandings that are not disclosed to the league are often considered circumvention.

External Endorsement Deals:
A player signing an endorsement deal with a company connected to the team or owner, where the deal is not based on actual work performed, can be a sign of cap circumvention.

[JujitsuFlip]

The Clippers have, since 2020, been eliminated in the first round every season or missed the playoffs entirely.

The Clippers went to the WCF in 2021...

[inonba]

Why do people think Silver is soft on major infractions like this? Sterling, Sarver, Ja, Porter all happened under his watch. Where is this idea coming from? Seems more like mindless group think than reality.

The idea comes from the actual CBA. At worst, Clippers will lose multiple draft picks I don't think Ballmer care for that much and maximum fine of $7.5 million.

The penalties for violating the CBA's rules against cap circumvention are multi-faceted and at the commissioner's discretion.

Forfeiture of Draft Picks: The league can force a team to surrender draft picks. The number of picks can vary, with some past punishments involving multiple first-round picks.

Voiding of Contracts: Contracts that were involved in the circumvention can be voided.(Kawhi is under new contract now so I don't think Silver will void it.)


Examples of Circumvention Violations

Secret Agreements:
Deals or understandings that are not disclosed to the league are often considered circumvention.

External Endorsement Deals:
A player signing an endorsement deal with a company connected to the team or owner, where the deal is not based on actual work performed, can be a sign of cap circumvention.

Adam Silver's own words. The league has a lot of discretion on what they can do. They can also get really creative if they wish. For example, they can treat Kawhi's stock option in Aspiration and his salary compensation as 2 separate unauthorized agreements and double the maximum monetary penalty. That's not to mention Ballmer, Dennis Wong made 3 separate investments into Aspiration with suspect valuation of the company may also be viewed as 3 separate attempts to circumvent ownership reporting requirements.

Regardless, there isn't a monetary penalty than can hurt Steve Ballmer considering he paid $400 million to buy out The Forum Arena to get the Intuit Dome built. Essentially, spending 400 million to tell James Dolan to **** off.

Kawhi's contract can and will be voided. His sponsorship money will have to be either returned via bankruptcy court or forfeited to the league. That's also in the CBA. His bird rights will be gone and if the league wants to get creative, they can rollback his seniority in the league to 8 years before he signed his first contract with the Clippers so the maximum he can earn would be 30% of the cap. Of course, there will be a suspension on top.

There are lots the league can do to justify a massive penalty and that's probably what will happen on the outset. When public outrage dies down, the penalty will most likely be reduced. At least, that's my prediction.

[GrindCityHustle]

I mean at the end of the day shoe companies do shady stuff like this even going back to the 90s. I think people have a torch out because they think this is like only 2nd time of this happening.

In the end all they can do is either void Kawhi's contract but that won't work because of player union. They won't fully punish Ballmer because of plausible deniability and that he basically bought a team from a racist in a largely black league and gave the Clippers the biggest shot in the arm ever in franchise history. Players remember that stuff.
Balmer isn't untouchable but he has been mostly a good owner that didn't rub noses the wrong way with the league like Cuban did. He has been an ideal owner before this and it's possible he didnt even know what was done being fully illegal. The NBA vs his business sector.

There will be punishment but no one is taking away 8 first round picks. Probably a 10 million fine and Clippers aren't allowed in lottery in certain years when they qualify for that seems likely.

The worst plausible scenario is that they make him sell the team but I have a feeling they are going to drag this out so people forget about it more and drop the news later this year when people are more focused on the season side.

[YogurtProducer]

I mean at the end of the day shoe companies do shady stuff like this even going back to the 90s. I think people have a torch out because they think this is like only 2nd time of this happening.

In the end all they can do is either void Kawhi's contract but that won't work because of player union. They won't fully punish Ballmer because of plausible deniability and that he basically bought a team from a racist in a largely black league and gave the Clippers the biggest shot in the arm ever in franchise history. Players remember that stuff.
Balmer isn't untouchable but he has been mostly a good owner that didn't rub noses the wrong way with the league like Cuban did. He has been an ideal owner before this and it's possible he didnt even know what was done being fully illegal. The NBA vs his business sector.

There will be punishment but no one is taking away 8 first round picks. Probably a 10 million fine and Clippers aren't allowed in lottery in certain years when they qualify for that seems likely.

The worst plausible scenario is that they make him sell the team but I have a feeling they are going to drag this out so people forget about it more and drop the news later this year when people are more focused on the season side.

Ah yes, those shoe companies who historically always pay athletes and never use them for any promotional material.

It’s one thing if a 3rd party forces clauses on you… it’s another if your team owner is the one funding it.

[dirkdiggler4177]

There is a big difference between the cases. With Smith, they are clear evidence, signed papers. With Kawhi, there is suspicious evidence. When interjections happen, there will be lawyers making sure nobody says anything wrong, which will confirm what we think. With that said, I hope it goes badly for the Clippers.

[balrog27]

It's 2025, rich people get to do whatever they want. Stop your hopes & dreams people, Ballmer will skate.

Are you saying rich people can get away with more things today than say 50 years ago?

[Black Jack]

It's 2025, rich people get to do whatever they want. Stop your hopes & dreams people, Ballmer will skate.

Are you saying rich people can get away with more things today than say 50 years ago?

I would say yes. There's more wealth inequality and less strength in civil society, rule of law etc.

For instance. Lookup Watergate, that was child's play compared to what goes on these days and Nixon was run out of office.

[Cavsfansince84]

At the end of the day Silver is on the side of the owners. It's not really about justice when it comes to owners or players. It's about what is good for the nba in the long term/profit. So that's the lens that Silver sees all of this through. If he thinks its better for the owners' collective pocket books to more or less sweep this under the rug and give Ballmer a light tap on the wrist then that's exactly what he will do. With Sterling there was significant public image damage done once his comments came out that could not be repaired which is why he had to sell. With this, its not good but I think they can say 'there isn't enough evidence' or 'Steve has learned his lesson and won't do stuff like this in the future'.