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Players such as Chet Holmgren, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving and NBPA president Fred VanVleet all provided feedback that helped bring the renovated space together. “I’m excited to be a part of shaping the PLYRS UNTD Performance Center to meet the unique demands of the brotherhood,” said Holmgren, a forward/center for the Oklahoma City Thunder. “As professional athletes, there is so much work and preparation that goes on behind the scenes to perform at our best. Our new LA facility is equipped with the wellness, recovery, and training resources we need in the offseason and beyond.”
NBABase: The Raptors are refusing to complete the trade for Kawhi Leonard because they are unwilling to take on the risk of potential NBA penalties, per @ramonashelburne "They are not willing to assume those risks."
NBABase: Steve Ballmer is expected to aggressively fight the NBA legally if penalties are levied against him in the Kawhi Leonard investigation, per @VinceGoodwill "Steve Ballmer can lawyer up as well as anybody."
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Oh No He Didn't: Baxter Holmes on the Kawhi/Clippers investigation: "I think the NBA wants to get this right. People have said to me all throughout that Adam Silver has forecast that in all his comments about how the burden of proof is on the league, that we're gonna follow the facts. They wanna be thorough so that at the end of the day, this process can look fair, transparent, accurate and that everybody can feel at peace with what happened"
Oh No He Didn't: Ramona Shelburne on whether the Raptors would back out of the Kawhi trade: "I haven't heard them trying to back out. I think the discussion is more of a league wide discussion which is when you have a trade that gets held up, whether it's a failed physical or something like that you can modify the trade"
Oh No He Didn't: Ramona Shelburne on the Kawhi/Clippers investigation: "I can see a world in which Kawhi Leonard is back on the Clippers if this trade doesn't go through and the Clippers quite frankly are fine with that"
Josh Lewenberg: Given the recent discourse and length of investigation, I can understand the skepticism but reality is the likelihood of Kawhi becoming a Raptor hasn't changed. Would still take a massive penalty (void contract or max suspension) to jeopardize the trade. Possible but don't see it. Voiding the contract would punish the league as much as it would punish Kawhi, and the only players who have ever been suspended 30+ games either punched a fan or brought guns into the locker room. NBA would need to build one hell of a case against Kawhi to drop the hammer on him. As I noted yesterday, Raptors wouldn't necessarily need to wait on arbitration for the trade to be completed. If they're comfortable inheriting whatever Kawhi discipline the league hands down, they could theoretically sign off on the deal (or renegotiate) before appeals are heard.
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Former Los Angeles Clippers center Daniel Theis has emerged as another NBA figure connected to Rhode Island FC amid Pablo Torre's ongoing investigation into Kawhi Leonard's business relationships. On the latest episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, Torre highlighted that Rhode Island FC publicly welcomed Theis into its ownership group in March 2023. The connection attracted attention because, according to Torre's reporting, Leonard, his uncle and business adviser Dennis Robertson, and Leonard's former agent Mitch Frankel also acquired ownership interests in the soccer club – but their involvement was never publicly promoted by RIFC. There is no evidence presented in the podcast that Theis committed any wrongdoing or that his investment was connected to the LA Clippers.
The NBA investigation into whether the LA Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard could drag into 2027 if the parties don't agree on the findings or any proposed settlement that involves punishing the team, sources with knowledge of the case told ESPN on Wednesday. Sources close to the National Basketball Players Association with knowledge of the investigation said the union wouldn't hesitate to take the matter to arbitration if the NBA sought penalties without sufficient evidence proving the claim that the Clippers have denied since the league's probe began nearly 10 months ago.
