Clippers Rumors

Pacific Notes: Monk, Kuminga, Leonard, LaRavia

Malik Monk knows that the Kings were willing to deal him in order to acquire Jonathan Kuminga from the Warriors. Monk’s contract, which runs through the 2027/28 season and includes a player option, wasn’t one Golden State was willing to take on.

Now that Kuminga has signed a two-year contract with Golden State, that saga has ended and Monk says he looks at Sacramento as his home and “loves” it there, according to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.

“For some people, yeah, but for me, what I’ve been through, no,” Monk said of whether he let the trade talk bother him. “And my support system is amazing. My brother, my agent, my mom, they always keep me upbeat, but I came to talk to (new general manager Scott Perry), too, right before everything, and he told me the same thing my agent told me. I like that from Scott. I appreciate him for coming forward and telling me to come talk to him. That’s being professional. A lot of GMs don’t do that, so I thank Scott for that.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Following contentious negotiations, Kuminga chose to sign a contract that would still allow him to be trade-eligible in mid-January. It also includes a team option. That means the speculation about his future won’t die down, Nick Friedell of The Athletic notes. Coach Steve Kerr says he doesn’t blame Kuminga for trying to get the best contract possible as a restricted free agent. “It’s just, this is the business we’re in, you know?” Kerr said. “I never begrudge any player for trying to get the best contract that he can. In fact, having been a player, I always feel like it’s part of my job to help our guys do the best they can come contract-wise and help them become the best players that they can be. Put themselves in the best position to have a great career, to sign a good contract, take care of their families. These are short careers, and so I want all our players to do well, how it gets there sometimes can be messy. I’m not worried about any of that.”
  • Kawhi Leonard addressed to a certain extent the allegation that the Clippers tried to circumvent the salary cap by arranging an alleged no-show endorsement deal with the now-defunct company Aspiration. He claims he’s not worried about the league’s on-going investigation, according to Law Murray of The Athletic. “The NBA is going to do their job,” Leonard said. “None of us did no wrongdoing. And yeah, I mean, that’s it. We invite the investigations. It’s not going to be a distraction for me or the rest of the team.” The Clippers have become experts in blocking out all the outside noise, Murray opines in a separate story.
  • The Lakers signed Jake LaRavia to a two-year contract during free agency. It was a low-profile move but the Lakers hope the 23-year-old forward can be a big part of their future, Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the Los Angeles Times writes. “To get a young player — a young player in free agency for a team that is trying to win a championship — it’s an incredible opportunity for myself and our player development department to have him continue to grow,” head coach JJ Redick said. “Jake, I’m very high on him. His level of commitment to what we’ve asked of the guys this offseason has been very high.”

Blazers Sign MarJon Beauchamp, Liam Robbins, Javonte Cooke

The Trail Blazers have added three players to their training camp roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed forward MarJon Beauchamp, center Liam Robbins, and guard Javonte Cooke.

Portland now has 20 players under contract, leaving a single opening on the team’s 21-man preseason roster.

Beauchmp, who will turn 25 next month, was the 24th overall pick in the 2022 draft. The 6’7″ forward has appeared in 135 regular season games for the Bucks, Clippers, and Knicks since entering the league, averaging 4.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .430/.354/.718. He was traded from Milwaukee to L.A. at February’s trade deadline, then finished the season on a two-way contract with New York after being waived by the Clippers.

Robbins, 26, spent most of the 2024/25 season on a two-way deal with the Bucks, but logged just total 57 minutes across 13 outings and was waived in February. The seven-foot center went undrafted out of Vanderbilt in 2023.

Cooke, a 6’6″ shooting guard, has played primarily in the G League since 2022, with a stint in Canada for the Brampton Honey Badgers in 2024. The 26-year-old made 42 appearances for the Oklahoma City Blue last season, averaging 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 28.2 minutes per game while converting 42.4% of his shots from the floor, including 33.5% of his three-point attempts.

In all likelihood, Beauchamp, Robbins, and Cooke all signed non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contracts, which can be converted into two-way deals before the regular season or line up players to earn bonuses worth $85,300 if they spend at least 60 days with their team’s G League affiliate.

Clippers Notes: Ballmer, Aspiration, Frank, Kawhi, Beal, Collins

Through his philanthropic arm, the Ballmer Group, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer donated $1.875MM to the Golden State Opportunity Foundation, a charity whose founder is disgraced former Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg, Pablo Torre reported Monday on his Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast (YouTube link).

Ballmer’s donation came in December 2024, more than a year-and-a-half after the Clippers ended their contract with Aspiration, and nearly a year after it was publicly reported that the now-bankrupt “green bank” company was under federal investigation, Torre observes. It also came a couple months after Sanberg’s co-conspirator was arrested.

It’s the latest update in an ongoing investigation from Torre, other members of the media, and the NBA, which hired a law firm to determine whether the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard circumvented the salary cap through their deals with Aspiration.

In a public statement on Monday, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank reiterated the Clippers “welcome” the league’s investigation and denied the accusations (Twitter video link via Joey Linn of SI.com).

We feel confident we are on the right side of this,” Frank said in part.

For his part, Kawhi Leonard denied any wrongdoing and said the investigation wouldn’t be a distraction during the season (Twitter links via Law Murray of The Athletic). Leonard mentioned “conspiracies” multiple times, according to Murray.

This is old… we already knew this was going to happen,” Leonard said.

Here’s more from the Clippers’ media day:

  • Bradley Beal had arthroscopic surgery sometime after the season ended, tweets Murray. Beal said he was playing through right knee inflammation last season with Phoenix and had the knee scoped, which helped, as he’s feeling “good” and “ready to go” now. However, the team said he would be a limited training camp participant, according to Murray, who adds (via Twitter) that Bogdan Bogdanovic (torn hamstring) will also be a limited participant. Leonard is considered healthy and a full participant.
  • Beal, who signed a two-year deal (second year player option) with the Clippers after being bought out by the Suns, says he loves living in Los Angeles and has talked with Frank about potentially ending his career with the team (Twitter links via Murray). The three-time All-Star knows he won’t be a primary scoring option for the Clippers and is welcoming the challenge of taking on tough defensive assignments.
  • Head coach Tyronn Lue views offseason acquisition John Collins as a power forward who can play some backup center at times, per Murray (Twitter link). The Clippers landed Collins in the three-team trade that sent Norman Powell to Miami. The 28-year-old big man will earn $26.58MM this season before hitting free agency next summer.

L.A. Notes: Redick, Lakers, Clippers, Kawhi Investigation

The contract extension the Lakers gave J.J. Redick after his first season on the job is a two-year deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania said during an appearance on NBA Today (YouTube link). When Redick was hired by the Lakers in 2024, he received a four-year contract, so he’s now locked up for five seasons, through 2029/30.

Charania also reported that Redick will make $45MM over the course of the next five seasons. His original four-year contract was said to be worth approximately $32MM. We don’t know the exact year-to-year structure of that original deal, but it likely didn’t have more than about $25MM left on it after year one, which suggests Redick’s extension is in the neighborhood of $10MM per year, a step up from the $8MM annual salary he received on his initial agreement.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

  • Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at the changes the Lakers‘ roster has undergone since last season, noting that Redick has yet to confirm his starting five for the upcoming season. “I haven’t spent much time thinking about the starting lineup yet, but I feel there are seven to eight starting-caliber players on the roster,” Redick said. “We will know the official starters once the training camp starts.”
  • Khobi Price of The Orange County Register identifies five Lakers-related storylines to monitor during training camp, including who will round out the starting lineup and who will emerge as the team’s primary backup center. Janis Carr of The Orange County Register conducts a similar exercise for the Clippers, with Bradley Beal‘s role and Chris Paul‘s return to L.A. among the storylines she believes are worth monitoring.
  • Of course, the biggest Clippers-related storyline these days is the NBA’s investigation into possible salary cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard. While team owner Steve Ballmer has been interviewed about the subject, Leonard has yet to address it all. As Murray writes for The Athletic, that’s about to change with media day around the corner
  • In a pair of in-depth stories for The Athletic, Joe Vardon surveys league sources and sponsors to get a sense of how Leonard’s “endorsement” deal with Aspiration compares to other arrangements about the NBA, while Dan Woike, Sam Amick, and Mike Vorkunov take a deep dive into what we know about Dennis Robertson, aka Uncle Dennis, who is a central figure in the league’s investigation into Leonard and the Clippers.

Clippers Sign Telfort, Poulakidas To Exhibit 10s

September 27: The Clippers’ training camp deals with Telford and Poulakidas are now official, according to Paul Garcia of The Spot Up Shot (Twitter link).


June 27: The Clippers have agreed to a deal with Butler guard Jahmyl Telfort, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reports (Twitter link).

Law Murray of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that Telfort, along with Yale shooting guard John Poulakidas, will be on the Clippers’ Summer League roster, with both undrafted rookies likely to sign Exhibit 10 contracts.

After testing the waters during the 2024 draft process, the 6’7″ Telfort returned to school as a super-senior and averaged 16 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists while shooting a college career-high 36.1% on three-point attempts. He reportedly had a strong Portsmouth Invitational Tournament as part of his pre-draft process.

Poulakidas is a 6’5″ senior who shot over 40% from three on 604 attempts throughout his college career. He averaged 19.4 points per game for the Bulldogs this season.

Clippers Waive TyTy Washington, Zach Freemantle, Taylor Funk

The Clippers have waived TyTy Washington Jr., Zach Freemantle, and Taylor Funk, according to the NBA.com transaction log.

Washington was signed in early August to an Exhibit 10 deal, and it was subsequently reported that he received the maximum Exhibit 10 bonus of $85,300 in the deal, which pointed to him ending up with the team’s G League affiliate in San Diego if he didn’t get converted into a two-way deal.

Washington, the 29th pick in the 2022 draft, has played for the Rockets, Bucks, and Suns in his three years in the NBA, holding career averages of 3.3 points and 1.2 assists in 10.5 minutes per game. Still just 23 years old, the 6’3″ guard out of Kentucky has struggled to find consistency with his shot in limited minutes, though he scored efficiently in the G League.

The Clippers signed Freemantle to an Exhibit 10 deal on September 10 as the 21st member of the team’s offseason roster. He previously played five seasons at Xavier, posting averages of 16.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in his age-24 season before going undrafted earlier this year.

The signing of Funk had not been previously reported, which would indicate that he was offered a sign-and-waive deal in order to ensure he gets a bonus for joining the team’s G League affiliate.

The 27-year-old forward was a six-year collegiate player, spending five years with St. Joseph’s before ending his career with Utah State. He averaged 13.4 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 37% from three and 90% from the free throw line in his final season. He was previously signed and waived by the Celtics in 2023 and the Wizards in 2024.

All three players will be eligible for their Exhibit 10 bonuses if they stay with the San Diego Clippers for 60 days or more.

And-Ones: ESPN Survey, S. Cash, Bargain FAs, More

A panel of 20 coaches, executives, and scouts around the NBA polled by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps overwhelmingly picked Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as the current best player in the NBA, with Jokic receiving 19 votes while Lakers guard Luka Doncic earned the last one.

However, the predictions for 2025/26 MVP were more divided — Jokic leads the way with seven votes, but Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (five), Doncic (four), and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama (two) each received multiple votes, while Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards each got one too.

The panel polled by Bontemps also predicted who will be the NBA’s best player in 2030 (Wembanyama received 16 votes), who will win Rookie of the Year in 2025/26 (Cooper Flagg earned 19 votes), and where LeBron James will be when the 2026/27 season begins — seven respondents expect him to still be a Laker, while five said he’ll be retired and eight believe he’ll be with a new team.

Those coaches, executives, and scouts also believe the Hawks (seven votes) had the best offseason of the NBA’s 30 teams, while the Pelicans (nine votes) had the worst summer. And they nearly unanimously picked the Thunder to repeat as champions. Just two respondents chose the Nuggets to win the 2026 title, while the other 18 stuck with Oklahoma City.

Here are more odds and ends from around the NBA:

  • After being let go by the Pelicans in April, former WNBA star and veteran NBA executive Swin Cash is joining Amazon Prime Video for the 2025/26 season, according to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. Cash will have the role of “front office insider” on Prime Video’s NBA studio show, then will become a studio analyst for Amazon’s WNBA coverage.
  • Thomas Bryant, Precious Achiuwa, Alec Burks, and Delon Wright are among the unsigned players identified by Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report as bargain free agents who are capable of helping any NBA team.
  • John Hollinger of The Athletic views the Thunder (62.5 wins), Clippers (48.5), Warriors (45.5), Bulls (32.5), and Jazz (18.5) as the five teams who are the best bets to exceed the over/under win projections set by oddsmakers for the 2025/26 season.

Latest On Clippers, Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard

After Mavericks minority stakeholder Mark Cuban suggested in a Twitter post that journalist and podcaster Pablo Torre should dig into the carbon credits that the Clippers bought from the now-bankrupt “green bank” company Aspiration, Torre did just that in the latest edition of his Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast (YouTube link).

Cuban had speculated that those carbon credits could be an easier and safer way for the team to circumvent the cap to pay Leonard, as opposed to simply investing in the company. Since the margin was so high on those credits, those purchases could provide Aspiration with a quick influx of cash that created the appearance of real revenue.

Torre’s findings point to that being a possibility, as the Clippers purchased roughly $21MM in carbon credits from Aspiration in June 2022, shortly before the first payment to Kawhi Leonard for his alleged “no-show” deal was due (Twitter video link). The Clippers had purchased another $35MM in carbon credits in April 2022, right around the time Leonard signed that endorsement agreement that didn’t actually require him to do any endorsement work.

Responding to Torre’s latest report, the Clippers said in a statement those carbon credit purchases were part of owner Steve Ballmer‘s effort to ensure Intuit Dome would be as environmentally friendly an arena as possible.

“Steve and his family are focused on sustainability, which is why Intuit Dome was designed to be a carbon neutral building from its inception and to achieve LEED Zero status over time,” the Clippers said. “Our development agreements for the arena included mandates to buy carbon credits, but after studying the issue of neutrality, we went far beyond those requirements, exploring ways to address emissions from our fans and contracting with Aspiration to directly purchase carbon offsets, as well as broker the acquisition of additional offsets.

“Some of those commitments were built into the sponsorship deal with Aspiration — totally separate of the investment in the company — and we made payments to Aspiration until the company was unable to fulfill their responsibilities.

“This effort reflects Steve wanting to set a positive example and raise awareness of the growing and important role of voluntary carbon markets. Unfortunately, he was duped on the investment and on some parts of this agreement, as were many other investors and employees.”

Here’s more on the ongoing Clippers/Leonard story:

  • Within his latest podcast, Torre provided some additional details on Ballmer’s $10MM investment in Aspiration in March 2023, which occurred shortly before the government began investigating the company. According to Torre, Ballmer paid $23 per share at that point, which was more than double the share price he paid when he invested $50MM in 2021. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal (Twitter links) wonders if that inflated share price was a way for Ballmer to avoid assuming more than a 5% stake in Aspiration, which is prohibited by NBA rules for any company that employs a player as an endorser.
  • People around the league don’t expect the investigation into Ballmer, the Clippers, and Leonard to conclude until sometime after the All-Star game, which will take place at Intuit Dome, Jake Fischer said in a Bleacher Report live stream this week (YouTube link). That probe is being conducted by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which has led multiple independent investigations for the NBA, including the 2014 inquiry into Donald Sterling that resulted in the former Clippers owner selling the team to Ballmer.
  • In case you missed it, John Hollinger of The Athletic took a closer look at earlier this week at the punishments that the Clippers and Leonard could face as a result of the investigation and explained why he doesn’t expect the NBA to void the forward’s contract.

Fear of Losing Kawhi Leonard Influenced Numerous Clippers’ Decisions

The Clippers have been operating under the fear of upsetting Kawhi Leonard and his representatives ever since he signed with the team in 2019, sources tell Baxter Holmes of ESPN.

Landing Leonard was viewed at the time as a major win for the franchise, but Holmes notes that it hasn’t completely worked out that way. Injury problems that began in San Antonio have persisted, leaving him available for just 58% of the games during his time with the Clippers, and the team only has three playoff series victories since Leonard’s signing.

In addition, Holmes states that the Clippers have been sued twice for alleged tampering violations since 2019, they’ve been fined at least twice for violations of league rules involving Leonard and they’ve been the subject of at least three NBA investigations, including the current probe of potential salary cap circumvention involving Leonard’s endorsement deal with Aspiration.

“This last investigation is different,” a former Clippers staffer told Holmes. “This one directly calls into question (owner) Steve Ballmer‘s character. At some point, Steve has got to get out of the Kawhi business.”

The Clippers learned during the 2019 free agency pursuit that life with Leonard would be complex. A source with knowledge of the negotiations tells Holmes that Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, submitted a list of demands that included part ownership of the team, access to a private plane, a house and guaranteed off-court endorsement money. The source adds that Robertson made the same demands to the Raptors, Leonard’s current team at the time, and the Lakers, who were also heavily involved in the bidding.

Another source tells ESPN that the Clippers didn’t agree to those demands because they weren’t permissible under the collective bargaining agreement, but they did acquiesce to other requests. When he first joined the team, Leonard was permitted to live in San Diego and commute to L.A. by helicopter. He was also allowed to skip certain media obligations and team community events, and he got to bring some of his own circle into the organization.

A team source denies those allegations, telling Holmes that Leonard’s camp never made some of the reported requests and others were mischaracterized.

Another demand from Robertson was a “strict protocol” on how team officials would talk about Leonard publicly, which meant saying nothing unless it was necessary. Doc Rivers, who was the team’s head coach at the time, ran afoul of that policy early in Leonard’s first season when he told reporters that Leonard “feels great” on a night that he sat out a game due to load management. The organization refused to elaborate and was fined $50K by the league, but its silence was seen as a show of loyalty by Leonard and his camp.

A former staffer indicated to Holmes that the Clippers were wary of alienating Leonard after seeing how quickly his relationship with the Spurs dissolved over an injury dispute.

“The Spurs were maybe the most respected, most revered pro sports team in America,” the ex-employee said. “It was like if this guy is willing to tell those people to go f— themselves, he can’t possibly be afraid to tell us to go f— ourselves. … Everybody was afraid of Kawhi leaving.” 

Multiple sources indicated to Holmes that details about Leonard’s health were considered to be “sacred secrets.” News releases and social media posts that mentioned Leonard were reviewed by senior leadership before being distributed, and sometimes they were submitted to Leonard’s representatives for their approval. The sensitivity regarding Leonard’s physical condition and the fear of upsetting him led to tensions inside the organization.

“It caused extreme angst within the medical department,” another former staffer said. “It was like the Clippers’ medical staff wasn’t really allowed to touch Kawhi ever.”

The fear of Leonard’s departure seems to have lessened somewhat in recent years, Holmes adds. He was eligible for a four-year, $220MM extension entering the 2023/24 season, but he ultimately settled for a three-year deal at $153MM. Clippers officials were confident that Leonard would accept the reduced offer rather than pursue free agency, where suitors would have required a medical exam.

Leonard’s latest deal runs through the 2026/27 season, and Holmes reports that multiple general managers and other executives he spoke with expect it to mark the end of his time with the Clippers.

“They’re done building around (Kawhi),” a former staffer said. “They know that and he knows that.”

And-Ones: Sengun, Giannis, Future Rankings, G League Swap, Drell

Rockets center Alperen Sengun made an eye-opening statement regarding Giannis Antetokounmpo after Turkey defeated Greece for the EuroBasket semifinals.

“He’s not a great passer. He’s an amazing player, you know, but he’s not a great passer. So we just tried to help and jump to close the paint,” Sengun said, per Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews.com.

When asked about Sengun’s comments on Sunday, according to BasketNews, the Bucks superstar replied, “I’m not the guy that will talk back to coaches or players or people that say bad things about me. It doesn’t really matter because at the end of the day, you won’t remember what they say. You’ll remember how I respond. So, I keep everything to myself. You can go see my clips on YouTube. And then come back and ask me if I’m a good passer. There you go. That’s it.”

The disagreement continued on social media but both players later issued apologies for comments they made on Instagram, according to Eurohoops.net.

We have more from around the international basketball world:

  • ESPN’s Insiders updated their three-year future rankings of every NBA franchise based on a variety of factors. Not surprisingly, the defending champion Thunder received the top ranking. The Rockets, Knicks, Cavaliers and Clippers rounded out the top five, with the Suns occupying the bottom of the totem pole.
  • The Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder‘s NBA G League team, has acquired a 2026 first-round pick and the returning player rights to Steven Richardson from the Wisconsin Herd in exchange for the returning player rights to Cormac Ryan, Thunder beat reporter Rylan Stiles tweets. Ryan joined the Bucks‘ camp roster on an Exhibit 10 deal last week, so this clears the way for him to receive a bonus up to $85,300 if he’s waived and then spends 60 days or more with the Herd.
  • Spanish club Joventut Badalona and former Bulls forward Henri Drell have reached an agreement for the next two months with an option to extend until the end of the season, according to Penya.com. Drell played in the EuroBasket tournament with the Estonian national team. Last year, he played 15 games with La Laguna Tenerife. Drell appeared in four games with Chicago during the 2023/24 season.