Kawhi and Clippers in trouble?

Did Clippers go around the rules to sign Kawhi?

The clippers are being accused of agreeing to funnel money to people near Kawhi, in order to convince him to sign with the team. The league has decided to open an investigation into the Clippers and executive Jerry West’s role in landing Kawhi during the 2019 free agency.

The investigation is centered around a lawsuit filed by Johnny Wilkes against Clippers executive, Jerry West, where Wilkes alleges that he was promised $2.5mm if he helped the Clippers land Kawhi. It’s no secret how badly the Clippers wanted Kawhi to boost their marketability while trying to compete against the Lakers with Lebron James and Anthony Davis. In fact, during the 2018 Championship season, the Raptors alleged to have noticed Clippers employees at roughly “75% of their games”, including Clippers President of Basketball Operations, Lawrence Frank.

As to how Johnny Wilkes is connected to Kawhi, Wilkes was a high school teammate of Kawhi’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, or “Uncle, Dennis” as he’s known in basketball circles. Uncle Dennis is known to be an influential figure for Kawhi, and is seen as a package deal for any business dealings.

Wilkes alleges he gave the Clippers intimate details towards Kawhi’s thinking and instructions on how to complete the deal, such as “the Clippers needing to sign Paul George in order to get Kawhi Leonard to sign.”

Wilkes also alleges that at the direction of Jerry West, on around July 1, 2019 he informed Uncle Dennis that the Clippers would get Dennis a home in Southern California, a travel expense fund and that owner Steve Ballmer would fund a $100mm marketing campaign for Kawhi, if Kawhi signed with the Clippers.

This isn’t the first time allegations against Kawhi and Uncle Dennis have come forward. In 2019, the athletic reported that Uncle Dennis, over the course of 3 phone conversations with the Lakers and Jeanie Buss, wanted the Lakers to guarantee Kawhi ownership in the franchise, a private jet available to him at all times, along with a house and a guaranteed amount of off court endorsement money, to sign with the team – which Jeanie Buss declined. The Raptors ­­were also cited as having issues with the negotiations, but declined to expand on any conversations.

This also isn’t the first time the Clippers have been investigated for tampering with Kawhi before he joined the franchise. the NBA conducted a formal investigation of the Clippers last summer after complaints surfaced that Robertson had asked for improper benefits during the free agency process. Ultimately, no evidence was found indicating the Clippers had granted any requests, but the league changed policies in an effort to be proactive against rule circumventing. These included raising tampering fines from $5mm to $10mm, having the ability to perform random audits, opening an anonymous tip line, and re-emphasizing that only certified agents are authorized to negotiate directly with teams.

The LA times recently reported that Kawhi purchased a penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton at LA Live for $6.725mm, through an LLC managed by his Uncle Dennis. Last year he used another corporate entity to buy a five-acre estate in San Diego County for $13mm. Neither of these on their own prove any wrongdoing, but add more speculation towards Uncle Dennis and his role with Kawhi

Kawhi responded to the lawsuit by saying Johnny Wilkes and what he alleges had no bearing on his decision “out here, people try to find any way to get some money. It probably won't be the last”

The NBA's investigation would pertain to "Other Indirect Contact" as detailed under Article 35A (3) of the NBA constitution, which "prohibits indirect communications, such as those made through intermediaries."

The Clippers could be fined up to $10 million and lose draft picks if they are found to have violated the rule. The most extreme of measures could see a suspension for executives, or the voiding of a player contract.

Jerry west has denied engaging in any improper conduct in connection with the signing of Kawhi, however voicemail audio was leaked of jerry supposedly thanking Johnny for his help

The clippers also issued a statement saying “The lawsuit filed by Johnny Wilkes is replete with inaccuracies and the allegations are baseless. […] (The Clippers) are providing the NBA with evidence that the allegations are false.”

These type of cases are typically settled out of court, so we may or may not get more information down the road. One thing is clear, Kawhi and his team clearly tried to maximize their opportunity with free agency, but only time will tell if the Clippers did anything that could be considered illegal to the NBA rules. Ultimatley, how much bearing will any of this have on the court? Probably none, as the 10mm would be a drop in the bucket for owner Steve Ballmer, whose net worth is over 73bb, and any draft pick penalties probably couldn’t be levied until 2027 when Clippers regain control of their picks after the draft compensation they traded for Paul George.