TORONTO – A Toronto-based legal expert says he was surprised by the newest twist within the Toronto Raptors-Los Angeles Clippers trade saga.
The Raptors and Clippers announced in separate statements on Thursday that a proposed trade that might bring all-star forward Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto has been placed on hold following the consequence of an investigation by the NBA into Leonard’s 2024 contract with L.A. Each statements said that the Raptors would assume the chance of any potential penalties that come out of the investigation.
Russell Sanders, a partner at Aird and Berlis, said he was shocked by the deal being paused.
“I used to be frankly shocked. I might have thought that was a difficulty that might have been vetted internally on each side before the transaction was announced,” said Sanders, who’s a member of the firm’s sports and entertainment groups.
“I don’t want to take a position, obviously, on what the punishment could be or how what it will appear like, but I don’t see the Raptors going through with anything if it will be so harsh that it wouldn’t be palatable for the team to tackle a player like that.”
The pending deal would send Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, a 2027 pick swap and two second-round picks to the Clippers for Leonard.
An investigation into Leonard’s current contract was opened by the NBA in September following allegations that Leonard signed a US$28-million “no-show” endorsement take care of Aspiration, an environmental financial technology company, that required no work beyond remaining with the Clippers. Aspiration later entered bankruptcy after its co-founder, Joe Sanberg, was charged with fraud, though Leonard has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
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“The Raptors don’t have any nexus to (the deal) in any respect, so it will it will be pretty shocking if the Raptors needed to assume that type of liability related to something that happened under one other owner’s roof,” said Sanders, while allowing that Leonard might be facing a lengthy suspension that might make the trade not worthwhile or have his contract voided.
Sanders noted that there have been two significant salary cap circumvention controversies within the NHL and the NBA before.
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Power forward Joe Smith, Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and general manager Kevin McHale were embroiled in controversy after the 1999-2000 NBA season. Smith was allegedly promised a multimillion-dollar deal if he agreed to a few consecutive one-year deals below his market value. That allowed the Timberwolves to retain his rights and exceed the cap to re-sign him. At the top of the last one-year contract, Smith could have signed a brand new long-term contract that might have paid as much as $86 million.
After that backroom deal was uncovered then-NBA commissioner David Stern fined the team $3.5 million, voided all three short-term contracts, barred Taylor from participating within the Timberwolves operations for a 12 months, and compelled McHale to take an unpaid leave of absence. Stern also stripped the team of 5 first-round draft picks: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, although the ’03 and ’05 picks were eventually returned.
Similarly, hockey superstar Ilya Kovalchuk agreed to a 17-year, $102 million deal to stick with the Latest Jersey Devils in July 2010 after testing the free-agent marketplace for 19 days. The contract was blocked by the NHL since it circumvented the league’s salary cap. An arbitrator heard the National Hockey League Players’ Association appeal and ultimately nullified the deal.
The Devils were fined $3 million, a third-round draft alternative within the 2011 draft and one future first-round draft pick inside the following 4 seasons. Latest Jersey used its first-round picks in 2011 and 2012 and due to this fact needed to give up its 2014 first-round selection. Nonetheless, the NHL announced in March 2014 it will forgive a part of the advantageous and grant the Devils the thirtieth pick in the primary round of the 2014 draft.
Neither of those incidents involved a trade, changing the dynamic of any possible punishment doled out by the NBA or one other skilled sports league faced with an identical situation.
“I might probably use a useful business analogy here, where a buyer purchases an organization that’s already under regulatory investigation, and the customer may not have caused the underlying conduct, nevertheless it may inherit a number of the consequences if the investigation later ends in penalties,” said Sanders. “The NBA is trying to find out whether any potential fallout is tied solely to the Clippers’ conduct, or whether it’s attached in some technique to Kawhi’s contract and the playing status following the trade.”
The Raptors said they are going to wait until the investigation is complete before moving ahead with the trade.
The National Basketball Players Association didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment made by The Canadian Press.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press