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Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by osamu6238

osamu6238 — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 10:28:46 +0000

Yea that’s what I always wondered. Was there some promise in 2019? There were reports of UncleD asking for a lot in 2019 and Kawhi had a ton of leverage in 2019 as a unrestricted FA, so at least logically it would make sense. But, Aspiration wasn’t really even a real company then. Maybe there was just some understanding that they’d figure something out during his tenure in LA? Ballmer knew he was going to try and build an arena and probably knew that would come with needing carbon credits, but the path to the new arena wasn’t even clear. Wasn’t until like 2020 that he even bought the Forum which really cleared the path to the Inglewood property. That would be a lot of faith in Ballmer to just “figure something out” years into the future.

Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by jim j

jim j — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 03:31:25 +0000

never seen Broome. great name though.

Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by Brandon Muller

Brandon Muller — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 01:35:42 +0000

To me, it’s never been explained why the Clippers would even want to pay Kawhi extra money on top of his salary.

Yeah, this is where I am. Why would a team circumvent the cap for no reason? They’re gonna break the rules out of the kindness of their hearts? Once Kawhi was a Clipper, I don’t recall hearing any buzz about the Clippers not being able to retain him. And if you want to go all the way back to 2019, why would Dennis/Kawhi accept a pinky swear from the Clippers that they’ll pay extra money under the table…three years from now, *after* signing two separate contracts?

Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 01:13:46 +0000

The “market value” aspect of this is open to theoretical questions. Sure, the Joe Smith case is totally off the charts different — Joe was paid a pittance and then cashed in while Kawhi was paid “market value.” But if we’re talking pure laissez faire capitalism, salary cap market value has almost nothing to do with true, unadulterated market value and who knows this better than “Uncle Dennis,” who, I’m sure, brings this up at every chance he gets to Kawhi’s then employers. But the rules are the rules and the salary cap is the rubric they’ve all agreed to abide by.

I’m guessing that none of the parties involved are going to be enamored with the eventual resolution, including us.

Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by Based Freestyle

Based Freestyle — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:48:45 +0000

The Wolves were also dumb enough to put IN WRITING exactly how they intended to circumvent the cap, and on top of that, had Smith agree to three straight suspiciously below-market one-year deals in advance that would have raised some eyebrows around the league. They were practically taunting the league and daring them to do something about it. And even with how obvious they were making it, they still might have gotten away with it if there hadn’t been a falling out between KG and Smith’s agent and the agency he had worked for, leading to a lawsuit where this all came out in discovery – which, imo, shows how nearly impossible this must be to prove when dealing with teams who aren’t as stupid as the Wolves were back then.

Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by osamu6238

osamu6238 — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:41:29 +0000

I honestly don’t get how this isn’t just a bigger case of like the Spurs setting up endorsement deals for their players and H-E-B. I know everyone loves those commercials, but if the players are getting paid by a sponsor of the team, isn’t that “extra” money on top of their NBA salary. You can say the difference being Ballmer investing millions into Aspiration, but you can’t tell me that other teams don’t also spend money on these type of partners. If Peter Holt goes into an H-E-B and buys $100 in steaks, does that mean he’s “funneling” that $100 to Tony Parker? Does H-E-B stock the player’s catering truck or is that bought by the team?

This has to go on in some form on basically every team in the league. Partnerships are deals are struck because they’re mutually beneficial. Teams are going to use their partner’s services (such as buying carbon credits), and partners are going to use teams for advertising. I don’t know, just never struck me as something that needed to be flagged as out of the ordinary until Pablo wanted his own “Donald Sterling” case to build a reputation on.

Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by osamu6238

osamu6238 — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:29:04 +0000

I really hope this is resolved this month. At least reports in the last few days have been positive, but seems like coming from very “off-brand” sources. Reports of the investigation being “done”, and discussions of “acceptable” punishment. Kawhi supposedly joining the Raptors for training camp? (Although actually reading the article, that sounds like way more this guy’s opinion than actual reporting).

Just feels like anything nefarious that happened between the Clippers and Kawhi did not impact the competitive balance of the league. Stripping the Clippers of future draft picks would impact the competitive balance. Big picture wise, doesn’t feel like that punishment fits the crime.

NBA can come out say there is no direct evidence of purposely circumventing the cap, but come up with some BS to make it seem like they’re doing something. Tell teams to better vet their partners and need to understand how their investments are handled. Say they will be looking into other player endorsement deals or say they’ll come up with a committee which will look into how to better vet player endorsements. Fine Ballmer a few $Mil, suspend Kawhi for 10 games, and get on with the 2027 season. It’s not that hard. At this point, effectively shutting down a trade and possibility of extending this investigation into the season is just going to hurt their product and a bad look for the NBA.

Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by osamu6238

osamu6238 — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:04:48 +0000

Every “salary cap circumvention” case gets compared to the Joe Smith example, but I think after that case, every single front office is smart enough not put anything in writing. Even then it took like firing of agents and a lawsuit to make information public (which I guess is where this Kawhi case is similar)

Moreso, in that case, Joe Smith was being paid less than his market value. In Kawhi’s case, I think he got paid or exceeded market value on the books. There is no “unexplainable” issue here. Sure the circumstantial stuff looks a little weird, but weird things happen when you’re talking about a company that defrauded multiple investors for hundreds of millions of dollars. How can you explain Kawhi “getting” $28M? maybe ask the guy serving 14 years in prison for “getting” $250M. To me, it’s never been explained why the Clippers would even want to pay Kawhi extra money on top of his salary.

The Joe Smith case, to me is much more like the Gary Trent Jr. case. Why did he sign minimum deals and then way over market value. this summer. There there is much more “unexplainable” issues going on with GTJ. I assume Bucks are smart enough not put anything in writing and outside of lawsuit, not sure what the NBA would be able to subpoena, if there was anything in writing. Just to me, this is a much bigger case than anything Kawhi did. Still given the precedent of the Joe Smith case, I’d be surprised if there is a smoking gun here for the NBA to do much.

Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by John Maclean

John Maclean — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:37:52 +0000

I know everyone’s sick of the aspiration thing, but since there’s nothing else going on, I’ll chime in with a thought. A lot of people are comparing this to the Joe Smith incident that happened back with the Timberwolves many years ago, but there are some major differences. The Wolves owner, general manager, and Joe Smith’s representatives got in a room together and hatched that scheme. The wolves were the aggressor which is why the NBA threw the book at them. In this instance it’s almost certainly something arranged by uncle Dennis and aspiration, that may or may not have been given Ballmer’s blessing. The fact that all sides were doing business in overlapping ways unto itself is not conclusive of anything untoward. I think where the Clippers may have stepped into it was when Dennis Wong sent that money to aspirations to cover that overdue payment in December 2022. While Ballmer and Kawhi may be held accountable for things their cohorts did, I’ll be shocked if either were the instigators in this. Hence I doubt there will be the draconian punishments that befell the wolves. Maybe a max fine, a draft pick or two, and perhaps Kawhi gets suspended for some games, and the two Dennis’ take the brunt receiving bans and/or other penalties. And that’s worst case scenario. The league could also determine that there’s just not enough of a smoking gun and punt on the entire mess.

Either way this can’t be over soon enough.

Comment on Clippers Trade for Johni Broome from Sixers by mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 04:56:35 +0000

Pretty good take on the likely Aspiration outcome altho I think the punishment the writer throws out sux

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/article/why-the-kawhi-leonard-contract-investigation-is-taking-so-long/