Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard's contractual compensation from Aspiration was actually worth $48 million, according to John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal. In addition to the $28 million deal Pablo Torre reported yesterday, Leonard also signed a deal for another $20 million in company stock, per Karalis. However, Leonard never received the $20 million, as the stock never went liquid, according to Karalis.

That gets even closer to the $50 million Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested in the company. It also discounts one piece of mitigating evidence Nate raised yesterday in his deeper analysis of the situation: Would Leonard really be swayed by just an extra $7 million annually? Well, $48 million is more enticing than $28 million.

As Torre detailed, this was a no-show job for Leonard. But beyond that, Leonard's deal was brought to the company by co-founder Andrei Cherny and other executives were not allowed their typical oversight, per Karalis.

This all makes the arrangement look even more suspicious.

L.A. Clippers

The Clippers/Steve Ballmer denied circumventing the salary cap. However, their latest statement does not include a phrase in their previous denial to Pablo Torre: "provably false."

In fairness to the Clippers, it'd be practically impossible to prove they didn't circumvent the cap. That fits the ol' "you can't prove a negative." Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

However, I'm not the one who claimed they could prove the allegation to be false. They did. I'd like to see them try.

NBA

The NBA was in panic about his Clippers-Kawhi Leonard report, according to Pablo Torre on "The Dan Patrick Show."

The league is in a tough spot on multiple fronts with so many competing factions and agendas.

People outside the Clippers, including other teams and their fans, want the Clippers punished. But has enough evidence been presented? Has so much evidence been presented that not punishing the Clippers would be problematic? How much more is an NBA investigation even capable of uncovering?

If the league goes searching, how many other teams have under-the-table deals? Could this lead to a far wider NBA-credibility problem?

It's unclear whether the league can minimize this Clippers mess. It's unclear whether the league should want to minimize this Clippers mess.

I don't envy Adam Silver's job here.

Jalen Brunson

Pablo Torre teased on "The Dan Patrick Show," based on an abundance of tips following his Clippers-Kawhi Leonard report, potential future reporting on Jalen Brunson and the Knicks.

The Knicks got fined in 2022 for tampering with Brunson for negotiating with him ahead of the official start of free agency. New York also hired his father, Rick Brunson, as assistant coach. (Plus, Knicks president Leon Rose is Jalen Brunson's godfather, and Rose's son, Sam Rose, is Jalen Brunson's agent.) Then, Jalen Brunson gave New York a surprising discount by signing an extension last year.

Do extreme tactics in recruiting/tampering mean a team is more likely to circumvent the salary cap? Or do extreme tactics in recruiting/tampering merely mean a team is more likely to get accused of circumventing the salary cap?

I'm all ears if evidence emerges about New York making under-the-table payments. But I'm skeptical this is more than hearsay and jealousy.

All-Star

2026 All-Star will likely be a round-robin tournament between two USA teams and one World team with 12-minute quarters in Ryder Cup-style games, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

Among my questions:

• How will the USA teams be split? I could see the World team taking collective pride in representing outside the U.S. I'm unsure being a random half of the American contingent would bring much identity.

• Will there be enough deserving international All-Stars? The high is nine, but that generously counts both Domantas Sabonis (born in Oregon, but plays for the Lithuanian national team) and Kyrie Irving (born in Australia, but plays for Team USA). This year, there were just seven. Last year, only five.

• Will East-West splits still be essential to selecting the player pool? Even when the All-Star teams were drafted, each conference was guaranteed half the roster slots. Enforcing equal number of East and West players be selected increases the odds of undeserving All-Stars, particularly in the limited international pool.

• What does Ryder Cup-style mean? If the Ryder Cup results in a tie, the previous winner retains its title. So, maybe it accounts for a 1-1-1 possibility (though I'm not sure how that'd apply this year). The Ryder Cup also uses match play, in which each hole is won or tied (rather than a cumulative score). So… maybe the winner of each quarter will matter? Charania did note 12-minute quarters, but I figured that was just to differentiate from last year's target score.

• Will this make anyone care?

Cam Thomas

Cam Thomas signed his $5,993,172 qualifying offer with the Nets, according to ESPN's Shams Charania, who adds Brooklyn made two other offers:

• Two years, $30 million with a team option

• One year, $9.5 million-$11 million (depending on incentives) with a waived implicit no-trade clause

The two-year-with-a-team-option offer is higher than the previously reported version ($28 million). So, Thomas surrendered roughly $9 million this season to ensure he could be an unrestricted free agent next summer rather than leave it up to his team whether or not to pay him roughly $15 million next season. On that 2-1 deal, he theoretically could have gotten an implicit no-trade clause – as his qualifying offer carries – but I wouldn't be surprised if he would've had to waive it.

The one-year offer is even more fascinating. He'd be an unrestricted free agent next summer either way. Thomas effectively paid $3.5 million-$5 million just for his no-trade clause.

But what is that really worth?

Does he believe his Bird Rights with Brooklyn will be so important next summer? He sees how little the team values him now. Just two players have ever signed a standard-contract qualifying offer then returned to the same team the following year: 76ers' Spencer Hawes and Hornets' Miles Bridges, whose situation was complicated by a domestic-violence case that had him unsigned for a full season. Perhaps, those Bird Rights could come in handy for a sign-and-trade. 

And what are the odds a team Thomas doesn't want to join would've traded for him? Any team that trades for him, definitionally, values him more than the Nets do. Thomas can control his destination if there are multiple suitors, but I'm unconvinced there will be multiple suitors. See his restricted free agency.

Day'Ron Sharpe

Initially reported early in free agency to be giving Day'Ron Sharpe a 2-1, $12 million deal, the Nets instead signed him to a 2-1, $12.5 million contract, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

This doesn't mean Sharpe will get an extra $500,000. It depends how much is in the team-option year/whether that option gets exercised.

Presumably, the extra money is in exchange for Sharpe waiting to officially sign, allowing Brooklyn to maintain cap flexibility. I'd be surprised if the arrangement – the Nets paying more if they had nothing better to do with their cap space – weren't agreed upon in June.

P.J. Washington

The Mavericks are signing P.J. Washington to a four-year, $90 million extension, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

I'm calling it a four-year, $88,762,435 extension. The detail contains unlikely incentives, and that's probably the (small) difference.

Washington's largest-allowable salaries, not including the unlikely incentives:

• 2026-27: $19,813,044 (140% of his 2025-26 salary)

• 2027-28: $21,398,087

• 2028-29: $22,983,131

• 2029-30: $24,568,174

-Dan Feldman