While the LA Clippers continue to await the results of the NBA’s investigation into Kawhi Leonard and a California company he had an endorsement deal with, the team maintains that the looming decision hasn’t impacted “anything that we do.”
That includes a pair of somewhat surprising trades last week that sent James Harden to Cleveland and Ivica Zubac to Indiana.
“We haven’t learned anything more than we have in September,” president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said of the investigation Monday. “We know it’s out there, we know at some point there’ll be a decision made. We very much feel the same thing that we told you back in September, that we’re on the right side of this. It really doesn’t impact anything we do on a daily basis.”
Last September, a report by journalist Pablo Torre alleged the Clippers violated the NBA’s salary cap rules through a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and a now-bankrupt California-based sustainability services company called Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC. Leonard has denied any wrongdoing, saying he didn’t receive all the money he was owed from the company, and the Clippers have also strongly denied that they broke any rules.
It’s been a strange season for the Clippers, who began the year 6-21 but recently surged up the standings, winning 19 of their past 25 heading into Tuesday night’s game against Houston. Amid the winning streak, the Clippers decided to move Harden and Zubac — something Frank said was not originally in the plans until Cleveland called asking for Harden and Indiana sent a “Godfather-type offer” for Zubac.
The Clippers received Darius Garland in exchange for Harden and two first-round picks along with fourth-year wing Bennedict Mathurin for Zubac.
Zubac grew up with the Clippers after coming over from the Los Angeles Lakers. He set career highs last season and became one of the league’s top defensive big men as the longest-tenured active player on the team.
The night before trading Zubac, Frank told him a team “was getting very, very aggressive” in pursuing him. At the same time, Frank said he “was kind of hoping they wouldn’t” meet the Clippers’ threshold for doing the deal.
In the end, the Pacers did. Zubac called to ask if he could still come into the Clippers practice facility. His final visit turned into a six-to-eight-hour lovefest, with teammates, coaches, staff and business operations employees saying goodbye.
“There were a lot of tears,” Frank said Monday. “It’s hard because we all know what Zu means to us.”
Making it more personal was that Zubac’s wife had just given birth to their first child.
“None of us felt right. He’s a special guy,” Frank said, citing Zubac’s ability to speak the truth to his teammates during tough times and take responsibility when others were pointing fingers.
Harden and the Clippers, meanwhile, had talked about what the next couple of years looked like for the team. At 36, Harden had logged big minutes while carrying the team during stretches when Leonard was injured. Trading him for Garland — who is 10 years younger than Harden — was a way for the Clippers to “win now and still get younger,” according to Frank.
Frank said Leonard was “hurt and disappointed” that the Clippers traded Harden and Zubac when they appeared to have righted the ship midway through the season but added he has been “a great partner” through this.
“He understands in order to be sustainable, you have to make some really, really hard decisions,” Frank said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
