RealGM Basketball Wiretap

14 November 2025

• Kawhi Leonard Misses 5th Straight Game With 'Significant' Foot Sprain, Sprained Ankle

  Kawhi Leonard missed his fifth straight game for the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night due to a sprained ankle and a "significant" foot sprain.

  Leonard suffered both injuries against the Heat on November 3.

  "With Kawhi, it wasn't just an ankle sprain," president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said. "He also had a significant sprain in his foot, as well. When he sprained his ankle, it kind of triggered a mechanism in his foot."

  The Clippers will have a clearer timetable for Leonard's return next week.

  Frank added that Leonard continues to do treatment to relieve inflammation.

  "Everyone has concurred in terms of what it is," Frank said. "It is just going to take a period of time to get the inflammation down and start to ramp back up on the court. So, he is doing two- to three-a-day treatments, and it is just going to take a little time."

  Leonard is averaging 24.3 points and 5.7 rebounds on the season.

• Bradley Beal Out For Season With Hip Surgery

  Bradley Beal has suffered a fractured hip and will undergo season-ending surgery. Beal joined the Los Angeles Clippers in the offseason on a two-year, $11 million deal with a player option for Year 2.

  Beal appeared in six games with the Clippers, averaging 8.2 points and 1.7 assists in 20.2 minutes. Beal shot 37.5 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent on three-pointers.

  Beal has been limited to no more than 53 games in each of the past four seasons.

  "We met with numerous doctors and specialists around the country in collaboration with the entire Clippers medical staff over the last few days, and came to the decision unanimously that the surgery will allow Brad to have a full and complete recovery," said agent Mark Bartelstein.

• Kawhi Leonard Out For 'Next Few Games' Due To Sprained Ankle

  LA Clippers coach Ty Lue said that star forward Kawhi Leonard would miss "the next few games" due to a sprained right ankle. Lue didn't go into specifics on when Leonard would return, or how his recovery is going, beyond the "next few games" comment.

  Leonard missed his third consecutive game, all Clippers losses, on Saturday night. Leonard was injured last Monday during LA's home loss to the Miami Heat.

  The Clippers have two upcoming home games, before beginning a seven-game road trip at the end of the week.

• Steve Ballmer Sued By 11 Aspiration Investors

  Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has been sued by 11 investors who allege he used a company to funnel millions of dollars to Kawhi Leonard. The investors claim Ballmer violated NBA salary cap rules to induce Leonard to re-sign with the Clippers.

  The lawsuit alleges Ballmer used Aspiration, now called Catona, to secretly channel funds to Leonard. The complaint states the payments were designed to circumvent the NBA's salary cap restrictions.

  The 11 plaintiffs are investors in Aspiration. They filed the lawsuit alleging fraud and claiming Ballmer was complicit in actions by company co-founder Joe Sanberg.

  "These funds would be channeled through [Aspiration] to Leonard so that Ballmer could induce Leonard to re-sign with the Clippers by covertly paying him more than allowed by the NBA's salary cap rules," the complaint states.

  The plaintiffs allege they would not have invested in Aspiration if Ballmer and Sanberg had disclosed the true nature of Ballmer's investment. They claim Ballmer transferred funds to keep the company afloat and secure Sanberg's cooperation.

  "Absent Ballmer's support, [Aspiration] could not have sustained the frauds set forth herein," the lawsuit states.

  Skip Miller, Los Angeles-based counsel for the plaintiffs and also an Aspiration investor, said the lawsuit seeks to recoup losses.

  "A lot of people have been hurt here," Miller said in a statement. "We look forward to our day in court where everything will be aired out and justice will be done."

  The complaint states the full extent of Ballmer's transfers to Aspiration and Sanberg will be determined in discovery. The plaintiffs allege Ballmer used the payments to buy Sanberg's support and silence about the alleged arrangement with Leonard.

• Clippers Decline 26-27 Rookie Scale Team Option For Kobe Brown

  The LA Clippers will decline the 2026-27 rookie scale team option for forward Kobe Brown. This was the fourth-year option for Brown.

  LA, or another team if they acquire Brown via trade, will be capped at paying the 6-foot-7 forward $4.8 million in first-year salary. This is because teams are capped at offering a player equal to the amount of the declined option.

  The Clippers could be looking at north of $70 million in potential cap space next offseason. LA has team options or partial/non-guaranteed contract for several players for the 2026-27 season.

• Ty Lue Says Chauncey Billups 'Confident About The Situation'

  Ty Lue said he spoke to Chauncey Billups since he was arrested following a federal investigation related to illegal sports betting and fraudulent poker games, and that Billups was hopeful over his situation.

  "I believe in Chauncey's character," said Lue before the Clippers played the Blazers on Sunday. "I know who he is as a person. I've been with him since I was 17 years old. So, it's just hard to see something like this happen. He has my love and support always."

  The NBA placed Billupson immediate leave following the arrest.

  Lue added that Billups remained confident despite his situation.

  "He's confident in what's going on. The toughest part just for him, just like his family going through with his daughters. But other than that, he's really confident about the situation. So just hearing his voice, I can just see that he's OK. So that was good to hear," added Lue.

  The Blazers named Tiago Splitter as interim coach in the meantime.

• NBA Striving To Get 'True Understanding' Of What Happened Between Clippers, Aspiration

  Adam Silver addressed the NBA's investigation into whether the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the salary cap with Aspiration's endorsement deal with Kawhi Leonard. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated asked Silver what he needs to see to make a determination that the Clippers committed an infraction. The NBA's collective bargaining agreement indicates that circumstantial evidence can be enough if it "cannot rationally be explained."

  "Somebody asked me if circumstantial evidence is enough, and just as in a court of law, sometimes there's direct evidence and sometimes there's circumstantial evidence," said Silver. And certainly, circumstantial evidence alone doesn't prevent findings for one particular side. But then, even in the case of circumstantial evidence, you look at the totality of the circumstances. So it's not formulaic. We will look at everything that's presented to us, and that includes inferences that come from evidence as well."

  Silver was also asked if he anticipates this being a long investigation.

  "I really don't know," replied Silver. "I can say it will take some time, just based on past experience. From the reporting so far, many of the sources are anonymous, but there are several of them. And you have here a separate court proceeding. We have a guilty plea [by Aspiration cofounder Joe Sanberg for wire fraud]. So there's a fair amount of evidence for us to look at. The stakes are very high here. We, as a league, want to be careful and make sure that not only are we being fair to the Clippers and Steve Ballmer, but also that we have a true understanding of whatever happened here."

• Clippers Initiated Kawhi Leonard Deal; Aspiration Execs Never Considered It Cap Circumvention

  In December 2021, Aspiration founder Joe Sanberg told company executives that the Los Angeles Clippers had approached him about an endorsement deal with Kawhi Leonard. Sanberg stated the arrangement was "important to the Clippers," according to executives who were present that spoke with the Wall Street Journal. The $48 million, four-year endorsement contract is now at the center of an NBA investigation into potential salary-cap circumvention involving Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

  The deal called for Leonard to receive $20 million in Aspiration stock plus $28 million in cash, along with appearances and community-service events. Company executives questioned the terms, with one noting the contract price exceeded the cost of seven Super Bowl advertisements. The company ultimately balked at providing that much equity, and Sanberg agreed to contribute $20 million of his own stock to complete the transaction.

  "This is important to the Clippers," Sanberg said, according to a high-ranking executive's recollection.

  Marketing executives complained about significant red flags in the contract terms. Leonard, noted for being relatively quiet off the court, did not use social media despite being paid to introduce the public to Aspiration's brand. A marketing director stated they should receive more than an eight-hour production day for the payment amount.

  The 19-page contract required autograph signings, meet-and-greets, and community events. Company officials considered various marketing strategies, including a web series about reducing Leonard's carbon footprint, but none materialized before financial troubles mounted.

  The NBA commissioned a formal investigation after sports journalist Pablo Torre reported allegations that Ballmer used Aspiration to funnel cap-circumventing payments to Leonard. Ballmer stated he invested $50 million in Aspiration believing it was legitimate and later claimed he was "conned" by the company.

  The Clippers denied breaking salary-cap rules. Ballmer told ESPN: "I made an investment in these guys, thinking it was on the up and up, and they conned me."

  Sanberg is scheduled to plead guilty to wire fraud involving $248 million in investor fraud. He admitted to falsifying financial documents and creating phony customers to misled investors. Aspiration, now operating as CTN Holdings, filed for bankruptcy listing debts between $100 million and $500 million.

  Leonard never was announced as an official Aspiration spokesman, and he performed no significant work under the contract terms.

  The Wall Street Journal also reported that top executives with Aspiration said there was never any discussion or speculation by senior executives that their company might be a way for the Clippers and Leonard to circumvent the Clippers.

• Clippers Waive Patrick Baldwin Jr, Jason Preston, TyTy Washington Jr

  The LA Clippers waived forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. and guards Jason Preston and TyTy Washington Jr. All three players are expected to join the San Diego Clippers for the upcoming G League season.

  The Clippers also converted forward Jahmyl Telfort to a two-way contract on Saturday.

  LA's roster is now set for the regular season. The Clippers have 14 players signed to standard contracts and three players signed to two-way deals. LA can't currently fill their open standard spot due to lack of space under their first-apron hard cap.

• Clippers Convert Jahmyl Telfort To Two-Way Contract

  The LA Clippers are converting forward Jahmyl Telfort to a two-way contract. Telfort had joined the Clippers on an Exhibit 10 contract. LA opened up a two-way spot when they waived Trentyn Flowers earlier this week.

  Telfort went undrafted out of Butler at the 2025 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 16 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and a steal per game as a senior for the Bulldogs.