Kawhi Leonard investigation, trade gets harsh reality from Adam Silver

LAS VEGAS — The NBA’s investigation into NBA star Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers is about to enter its 11th month, and everyone involved is awaiting the end of what’s been a frustrating few months.

On September 3, 2025, Adam Silver and the NBA officially launched an investigation into Kawhi Leonard, the LA Clippers, and a reported no-show endorsement deal as a salary cap circumvention move using the firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The same firm conducted a 10-month investigation into former Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver.

Now, the Toronto Raptors are involved. The next franchise that Leonard wants to play for has now put the trade on hold as the league awaits the findings and any subsequent punishments from the investigation.

“My timeline remains this summer,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told a group of media members at the Board of Governors press conference on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. “As you know, I am not conducting the investigation, nor is the league office. That’s being conducted by the Wachtell law firm independent of the league. Of course, as I’ve said previously, we all have an interest in wrapping this up. I think I’ve most recently said in an interview that I’m hopeful that it will wrap up this summer. So that would continue to be the goal here.”

On June 30th, the LA Clippers and Toronto Raptors agreed on a trade that would send Kawhi Leonard to his former team. But just as the first day of Summer League began, reports surfaced that the trade was being put on hold as the investigation continued.

But Adam Silver made sure to clear up any misconceptions about the trade that is currently sitting idle.

“I just want to clarify so everyone understands: The league did not pause the trade,” Silver explained. “The parties to the trade made a decision not to go forward, given that the investigation remained open and any possible impact on Kawhi or his contract was yet to be known. They chose not to live with that uncertainty. But that was well known before the trade was proposed. I didn’t think there was any reason for people to believe that the status of Kawhi Leonard would change merely because he was traded. The investigation needs to run its course.”

Ahead of Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks, Silver made it known that the league wanted the investigation wrapped up in the near future, and was hopeful it wouldn’t linger on beyond this offseason.

While that still is the hope, that now appears to be up in the air, as reports out of Las Vegas Tuesday stated that a second investigation was being conducted into Leonard and a potential second, previously unreported second endorsement deal.

“I don’t know specifically what will be in the report. To the best of my information, the report is not done. I do get regular updates from our general counsel, who is Rick Buchanan, and he deals with Wachtell on a daily, if not weekly basis, or weekly if not daily basis, in terms of who they are talking to and what they are finding on a preliminary basis.

“But my understanding is that Wachtell is now in the process of going through the information that they have gathered and drawing conclusions from that information. And I think, yes, it is realistic to think that this can be wrapped up, and I would say needs to be wrapped up, before the beginning of the next season.”

Adam Silver also preached patience as it pertains to the firm’s investigation collecting as much information possible to come to a conclusion and not just wrapping it up for the sake of wrapping it up.

“At the end of the day, as the Commissioner in this league, I’m the one who ultimately engaged Wachtell. So sure, I could tell them to stop, and I’ve read those reports where people are saying, just tell them to stop.

But also the benefit of an independent investigation is they have their own credibility on the line, and presumably, I can count on Wachtell to say to me, well, of course, ultimately if you say we have to stop, we’ll stop. But in our report, we’re going to say we were required to stop before we felt we had a complete understanding of this situation. So it’s just finding that right balance.

“It’s gone on longer than I would have hoped, there’s no question about that. Part of it, as I said before, things that are out of their control and our control, dealing with bankruptcy courts, dealing with reluctant witnesses. It’s a long process, and it is complicated and complex. I understand why people who haven’t lived in these kinds of investigations are frustrated. But also, on one hand, we want to respect everyone’s rights here. Certainly, if any of us were being investigated, we would want a certain standard to be met and a standard of due process with presumption of innocence.

“At the same time, you know, we want to be able to answer to our teams and our fans and to all of you that this is comprehensive and that to the best of our ability, we’ve discerned what actually happened in this situation.”

It remains unclear just how long both the Clippers and Raptors will have to wait to complete their trade.

In one of the stranger scenes at NBA Summer League, Kawhi Leonard showed up to a Raptors game and sat courtside alongside former owner Larry Tanenbaum and his new teammates. Meanwhile, Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick both attended an LA Clippers game with their new teammates, while Dick even took part in a workout after the team’s practice at a local high school.

“All I’ll say is the issues were well-known to the teams, and once again, I think even if you weren’t a sophisticated NBA team, the notion that because Kawhi Leonard was traded that to the extent he was — that there was an investigation that included potential agreements that were entered into by Kawhi or his representatives, that somehow all those issues would go away by virtue of being traded, I just don’t find that credible.

“I don’t think it’s helpful to go through a tick-tock; only to say that questions were asked and answered quickly by the league office. But I don’t think any of this information should have been a surprise to anyone involved who thought about trading for him or were part of those discussions.”

The Clippers have made moves and continue to be involved in talks on potential roster moves with the expectation that Leonard will be traded to the Raptors. When this investigation will all end, however, no one seems to know.

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