Kawhi Leonard Trade Timeline Revealed After 2 Significant Updates in Clippers Scandal

August 17, 2026 ,
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The LA Clippers/Kawhi Leonard scandal took two significant turns on Monday, with ESPN and the NBA itself trading conflicting reports. But in the end, the Leonard trade to the Toronto Raptors is still on hold, and a resolution might not be coming for another month to six weeks.

Baxter Holmes, who was one of the authors of today's ESPN report, says that an NBA Board of Governors meeting in mid-September could give us some clarity on the trade. "If not by then, then potentially by the end of the month."

Holmes, along with Don Van Natta Jr. and Ramona Shelburne, initially reported on Monday for ESPN that the league "found no evidence" suggesting that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and the team intentionally circumvented the salary cap by funneling money to Kawhi through third-party sponsors. 

NBA looking into Clippers' introductions of Kawhi to third-party sponsors

They went on to report that, instead, the NBA is looking into whether the Clippers' introduction of Leonard to team sponsors constitutes a violation of the league's rules. 

For its part, the NBPA (Players Association) said if this turns out to be the issue, finding any cap improprieties out of that would be "dead on arrival." 

The report also indicated that "In recent days, both sides have been negotiating a resolution to the investigation... and those talks have, at times, been 'spirited.'"

Meanwhile, the NBA, via its public relations arm, has released their own statement, which turns out to be a scathing one of ESPN, saying that the reporting "contains numerous and significant inaccuracies."

The press release says the NBA will have the results of the matter "when the investigation has been concluded."

In other words, still no deal completed between the Clippers & Raptors. However, Kawhi himself is not worried, and his thoughts on the matter were recently revealed.  

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