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Former 76ers player Tony Wroten signed with Kuwaiti team Al-Qurain SC for the 2025-26 season.
Trey Lyles headed to Real Madrid
Donatas Urbonas: Trey Lyles, a 10-year NBA veteran, is finalizing an agreement with EuroLeague powerhouse Real Madrid, sources confirm. More on BasketNews basketnews.com/news-230798-tr…
Kawhi Leonard's promised side compensation from LACwas $48 million, not $28 million
The $28 million deal was to be paid in quarterly installments over four years, but it was not the only compensation Leonard received. According to a high-level source, Leonard also cut a side deal with Aspiration to receive an additional $20 million in company stock. The stock was to be paid out from Sanberg’s personal holdings in the company over four years. That brought the total of promised compensation to Leonard to $48 million. Around the same time as the Leonard deal, Aspiration was going through its rounds of fundraising. They had raised approximately $600 million, including the previously mentioned $250 million from Oak Tree Capital Management. That number also included a $50 million investment from Ballmer. That investment has been characterized to Boston Sports Journal as having been made with light-to-no diligence.
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At this point, the $48 million commitment by Aspiration to Leonard and Ballmer’s $50 million investment stand as two separate transactions. The league is currently investigating whether there is a connection that circumvented salary cap rules. If there is a finding of wrongdoing, it would not be the first violation for Ballmer and the Clippers. They were fined $250,000 in 2015 for offering DeAndre Jordan unauthorized endorsement opportunities.
Erik Slater: OFFICIAL: The Nets have re-signed guard Cam Thomas.
Ben Simmons, agent Bernie Lee part ways
Marc Stein: As Ben Simmons decides his next career steps, I'm told Bernie Lee has notified @TheNBPA that he has formally removed himself from the union's ledger as Simmons' agent.
Sam Amick: Yeah, so you have a bit of a track record where Steve has shown, at minimum, or had a history of coloring outside the lines. Obviously, this is on a much smaller scale than something like this—if it is proven. So, the penalties: The player contract could be voided. Executives could be suspended for up to one year. And it says all team personnel. I need to get clarity on possible player suspensions, outside of a—you know... but these are the extreme measures. There’s a bunch of scenarios that could happen. I had one person sarcastically say to me, “Man, Steve’s going to win here because…” And if I’m predicting—I don’t think this will happen—but they were basically saying: “You’re going to void Kawhi’s contract, get all kinds of salary cap room. The guy has barely played the last couple of years. Any fine you give Steve Ballmer is irrelevant because he’s such a wealthy man.”
Sam Amick: Now Steve Ballmer is not only the sixth-richest man in the world—or at least in the top ten—but a guy who, independent of these issues, is kind of a beloved member of the Board of Governors. He's a net positive for the league and, relationship-wise, has a good rapport with Adam. But this type of situation—which we've got to continue sifting through... We have smoking guns—how much of that smoke applies to real infractions?—this situation is exactly what Adam needs to cut out of the league right now. You cannot have a second-apron luxury tax system that is basically a hard cap meant to level the playing field—to keep the richest of the rich from outspending their competition—and then potentially allow deals like this that, if proven to be the case, are putting money in the pockets of star players on the side as a way to keep them in town.
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Sam Amick: Do I think that NBA media—and even at times myself—is guilty of not, you know, jumping into the nitty-gritty? Um, especially, you know, listen—Pablo filing through Chapter 11 bankruptcy documents, and connecting dots between Kawhi’s arrangement with the team sponsor and Steve Ballmer’s relationship... That's old-school sleuthing. And we’ll see where it leads. But it's good work. And yeah, a lot of the media is not going down those roads, for sure.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper agrees to two-way deal with Memphis
Shams Charania: Free agent forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper has agreed on a two-way NBA contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, Todd Ramasar and Mike Simonetta of Life Sports Agency told ESPN. Prosper sifted through multiple offers, and now chooses the Grizzlies to enter his third NBA season.
Cam Thomas signing one-year, $6 million qualifying offer to return to Brooklyn
Restricted free agent Cam Thomas is signing a one-year, $6 million qualifying offer to return to the Brooklyn Nets, sources told ESPN on Thursday. The Nets were unable to reach a long-term deal with Thomas, so the 23-year-old high-scoring guard opted for the qualifying offer that gives him a full no-trade clause and sets him for unrestricted free agency next summer with at least 10 teams set to have cap space. Thomas is the first among the final restricted free agents in the NBA to land on a decision (including the Chicago Bulls' Josh Giddey, Golden State Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga, Philadelphia 76ers' Quentin Grimes). Thomas is only the fifth former first-round pick to sign a qualifying offer since 2017.
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