Federal Investigation into Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard Salary-Cap Violations

The Los Angeles Clippers’ salary-cap scandal has moved out of the commissioner’s office and into a federal courtroom.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that the Clippers helped arrange improper contracts for Kawhi Leonard in violation of NBA salary-cap rules, according to a report Thursday from the New York Times.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment to the Times. The Clippers and the NBA also did not respond to requests for comment.

The development lands just weeks after the league dropped one of the harshest punishments in recent memory. Earlier this month, the NBA stripped the Clippers of five first-round draft picks from 2029 through 2033 and hit the franchise with a $30 million fine, among other penalties, after an independent investigation found what the league called a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations. Leonard was fined $700,000.

Federal prosecutors, the Times reported, had already begun digging into the matter before the NBA announced its sanctions. At least one subpoena has been issued. Beyond that, the contours of the case remain murky — the scope of the probe, its specific targets and the potential criminal charges have not been made clear.

Inside the league, the shock of the punishment has not fully settled. According to the Times, the Clippers are weighing a lawsuit against the NBA in response to the penalties, a move that would pit one of the league’s marquee franchises directly against the league office in a high-stakes legal fight.

The NBA’s ruling carried another immediate basketball consequence. Because Leonard’s contract was not voided and he did not receive a suspension, the decision was widely seen as clearing the way for the Clippers to finalize a trade with the Toronto Raptors that the sides had agreed to earlier in the summer.

Yet that deal remains in limbo. It has not been officially announced, and training camp opens later this month. The Raptors paused the transaction while waiting for the NBA to complete its investigation. Now, with federal prosecutors involved, the cloud over the situation has only grown darker.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn is no stranger to high-profile sports cases. It has previously taken on matters tied to gambling in professional sports, including cases involving former NBA guard Chauncey Billups and MLB closer Emmanuel Clase.

The question now is how far this latest case will reach — and how much more damage it can do to a franchise already reeling from the league’s verdict.