Kawhi Leonard gets best-case scenario, leaves Clippers in the dust after NBA investigation

When the hammer finally dropped, the Los Angeles Clippers got clobbered. Almost no one associated with the NBA's nearly year-long investigation of the organization for salary cap circumvention was spared — except, it seems, for Kawhi Leonard, who will evidently be allowed to make a run for the border and flee to Canada. A lucky break for Leonard (and, by extension, the Toronto Raptors after trading for Leonard in June), who escapes relatively unscathed in what has been a very long and messy scandal for the league.

On Wednesday, the NBA issued a statement saying the investigation "found a pattern of misconduct and multiple rules violations" by the Clippers, who are said to have initiated "off-court income opportunities" between Leonard and four separate companies. In essence, the Clippers, per the investigation, made introductions to companies like the now-bankrupt Aspiration, which gave Leonard what amounted to a $28 million no-show endorsement deal, providing gobs of supplemental income for Leonard while allowing the Clippers to circumvent the NBA's salary cap rules.

The league did not take kindly to that kind of scheming and issued harsh penalties as a result. The Clippers were docked five future first-round picks (beginning in 2029 and ending…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/