NBA waiting for Raptors, Clippers to submit Kawhi Leonard trade for approval

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The league stripped the Clippers of five first-round picks and fined the team US$30 million for multiple violations, while Leonard was fined $700,000. Owner Steve Ballmer and team president of business operations Gillian Zucker were each suspended one year, while president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was banned for six months.

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The Clippers will forfeit a first-round pick in five straight NBA drafts starting in 2029. Los Angeles would recoup some draft capital in the Raptors trade, as Toronto is reportedly sending the Clippers unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and second-round picks in 2030 and 2033. The trade also includes a first-round pick swap in 2027.

Under NBA rules, teams must formally present an agreed-upon trade to the league office on a conference call. The deal is not considered complete until its conditions are satisfied and the league provides written confirmation.

While the trade has not been finalized, it appears Leonard is starting to move forward with a Raptors return. He was in Toronto for the retirement announcement of former teammate Kyle Lowry and also attended the National Bank Open last month.

“As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate,” he said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The Raptors acquired Leonard before the 2018-19 NBA season in a deal that saw popular star forward DeMar DeRozan and centre Jakob Poeltl head to the San Antonio Spurs.

Leonard, who is from the Los Angeles area, led the Raptors to their only NBA title that season, earning his second NBA Finals MVP award in the process, before signing a three-year, US$103 million deal with the Clippers.

The NBA began investigating the Clippers in September 2025 after journalist Pablo Torre reported on a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, a company that filed for bankruptcy last year. The league investigated whether the agreement broke its rules.

Earlier this year, Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding investors and lenders of at least $248 million.

The league said Ballmer knowingly sought to help Leonard obtain off-court income deals, approved a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement contract with Leonard, and failed to create conditions under which his team followed league rules.

“I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family,” Leonard said.

The NBA said Leonard, through his former business manager and uncle Dennis Robertson, “violated the circumvention rules by pressuring the Clippers to assist him in obtaining off-court income opportunities, successfully obtaining those opportunities, and failing to reimburse payments by the Clippers for personal expenses.”

Robertson was banned from conducting business with NBA teams and their affiliates for five years.

— With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2026.

The Canadian Press