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Chris Mannix: "I had a source that is plugged into the Clippers. This person told me that in the front office right now, they were leaderless. Which is not all that surprising because the three top people in basketball ops were let go. The assumption is that Trent Redden will take over the day-to-day operations of the team, but right now, it's chaos. It's chaos over there as they're trying to figure out who's calling the shots, who's the ultimate decision-maker, and who can sign off on this Kawhi Leonard deal."
Pablo Torre: "The Clippers behind the scenes for a year have been mounting an aggressive PR campaign through their head of public relations Chris Wallace, who is the comms guy across everything who reports directly to Steve Ballmer and Gillian Zucker and Lawrence Frank. He is a C-suite level guy with relationships throughout the league. He is very active on the internet. And then they also, and this is important as well, hired a crisis PR person whose job was to shop around the most exculpatory version of events to reporters."
APHoops: There is an expectation that Clippers GM Trent Redden, who won a championship in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, will take the place of Lawrence Frank in the interim, per @JakeLFischer on @BleacherReport .
Jake Fischer: Prime among reasons why Kawhi Leonard's trade to Toronto has yet to be finalized: Sources tell @TheSteinLine and me the Clippers are still working through their new front office structure after NBA suspensions for Steve Ballmer, Lawrence Frank.
Jake Fischer: En route to tape today’s @BleacherReport stream at 5pm ET. Kawhi Leonard, sources say, is in Miami among an organized minicamp of Raptors players. Toronto is waiting for Los Angeles to move forward with the agreed-upon trade that Leonard and the Raptors expect to be completed.
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Pablo Torre: "If I'm taking a guess, I don't think Gillian Zucker or Lawrence Frank keep their jobs. And that's even before you get to the particular hypothetical betrayal that Ballmer might feel on the part of either of them."
Suspended owners can’t go into team offices or influence personnel or business decisions. If the Toronto Raptors want to change their pending trade for Kawhi Leonard, Clippers basketball executives aren’t allowed to ask Ballmer whether he approves. Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank is also suspended as part of the alleged cap-circumvention scheme — his suspension is for six months, so Ballmer, or perhaps the person he appoints as interim governor, will have to promote an interim replacement for Frank.
Mike Vorkunov: NBA's investigation also found Clippers made hundreds of payments on behalf of Kawhi Leonard and his family for expenses — such as personal travel, tickets, and gifts — that Leonard was supposed to have repaid by NBA rules but did not. The payments were approved by Frank, NBA says
Shams Charania: BREAKING: The NBA has ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers in for salary cap circumvention investigations on Kawhi Leonard after yearlong probe -- stripping the franchise of 5 first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker, sources tell ESPN. Kawhi Leonard will have to pay $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits by the Clippers for his uncle and former business rep, Dennis Robertson. No contract void or suspension for Leonard. And Robertson -- who was fired by Leonard in June -- is being banned by the NBA from all business dealings.
Shams Charania: Per NBA: The Clippers shall forfeit five first-round draft picks, one in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities, for approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules. Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for one year for being primarily and directly culpable for the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for providing false and misleading statements to investigators. Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months for his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family. The Clippers organization and personnel are subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league office for a period of five years.
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Marc Stein: Ballmer and Clippers executive Gillian Zucker have been suspended from all team activities for one year and lead basketball decision-maker Lawrence Frank has been suspended for six months. In addition: Kawhi Leonard has been ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution to the league while his longtime representative Dennis Robertson has been banned from league activities for five years.
Joey Linn: When the Clippers made the Ivica Zubac trade, Lawrence Frank was pretty open that it was primarily about the picks. LA was happy to get Bennedict Mathurin, and he had some good moments, but there clearly wasn’t a huge urgency to keep him.
Law Murray: Frank: "We really think Keaton's best basketball is way ahead of him. He'll contribute now, but I think he obviously has to get stronger. He's going to continue to put a ton of work in. There's a lot of growth to be made."
Farbod Esnaashari: Lawrence Frank on Keaton Wagler's skillset: "He's got incredible body balance. And I think these are lessons you learn when scouting, when athleticism is a very, very broad term. And what we've learned is functional athleticism is different than athleticism. And Keaton very much embodies that."