Kawhi Leonard trade talks heat up as Clippers salary-cap circumvention findings loom
By Steve Henson Staff Writer Follow June 29, 2026 10:11 AM PT - Click here to listen to this article
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- The Clippers are weighing whether to trade Kawhi Leonard, a seven-time All-Pro entering the final year of a $152.4-million contract at age 35.
- Leonard prefers to stay in L.A., but would consider an extension with Toronto or San Antonio, as Dallas reportedly dangles P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson and draft picks.
- An ongoing NBA investigation into Leonard, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and the failed firm Aspiration clouds his trade value, even as he is coming off a strong season.
Reasons for the Clippers to trade Kawhi Leonard are apparent. So are reasons to keep the seven-time All-NBA forward who turned 35 on Monday.
For now, the team is engaged in discussions and entertaining offers for Leonard, who is highly regarded despite being central to a league investigation into allegations of salary-cap circumvention.
Representatives for Leonard, who has one year remaining on a three-year, $152.4-million contract, have informed other teams he prefers to remain with the Clippers and would only sign an extension with the Toronto Raptors or San Antonio Spurs if the Clippers trade him, ESPN reported. Leonard helped both of those teams to NBA titles, the Raptors in 2019 and the Spurs in 2014. He was Finals MVP both years.
However, the Athletic reported that the Dallas Mavericks offered to trade power forward P.J. Washington, shooting guard Klay Thompson and draft picks for Leonard. Mavericks president Masai Ujiri held the same position with the Raptors when they won the 2019 championship.
If Leonard doesn’t agree to a contract extension with Dallas, he essentially would be a one-year rental and not worth as much in trade capital. Ujiri engineered the trade in 2018 that brought Leonard to the Raptors without the player agreeing to an extension, and the result was a championship followed by Leonard bolting to the Clippers.
Another factor in assessing Leonard’s trade value and the Clippers’ motivation to move him is the ongoing NBA investigation involving team owner Steve Ballmer, Leonard and the now-bankrupt sustainable financial technology firm Aspiration.
Triggered in October when the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast detailed a $28 million endorsement contract Leonard received from Aspiration, the NBA hired a prominent law firm to conduct the probe. Findings could be announced soon because NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said June 2 that it was time to “wrap it up.”
Aspiration had a $300-million, 23-year endorsement deal with the Clippers and Ballmer personally invested $60 million into the company, whose co-founder Joseph Sanberg was convicted of two counts of wire fraud and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. Ballmer admits introducing Leonard to Aspiration executives but has denied that he knew details of the endorsement deal that Leonard never fulfilled.
Silver has not stated that the NBA would hold up any trade involving Leonard because of the investigation. Still, the Clippers expressed at the end of the regular season that keeping the 14-year veteran was a priority.
“Our plan is to win with Kawhi,” Clippers president Lawrence Frank said.
Leonard is coming off his best season of six with the Clippers, averaging a career-high 27.9 points over 65 games. He has averaged 20.7 points a game during his career.
The Raptors are rumored to be dangling former Lakers forward Brandon Ingram and first-round draft picks.
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"What I will never do is give up" – Kimmich rules out international retirement after Germany's World Cup exit
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Germany captain Joshua Kimmich is not considering retiring from international football after Monday's heartbreaking World Cup exit to Paraguay.
"I'll always have the determination to make another attempt. What I will never do is give up," Kimmich told MagentaTV after the match.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe 31-year-old, who was also part of the squads that crashed out in the group stage at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, converted his penalty in the shootout. However, it wasn't enough to prevent another disappointing tournament exit.
"I grew up in Germany watching the national team on television, and it always seemed to be the semifinals or the final. Of course, you want to give today's children, the people, and this generation that same experience. The fact is, we weren't able to give the people back home that," Kimmich said.
According to Kimmich, everyone in the team must take full responsibility for the latest failure.
“It's a real shame, especially at a time when it would do us so much good to have something in Germany we can be proud of. Unfortunately, the national team isn't that right now, and we all share responsibility for it,” he said.
"We have to take responsibility – no one can distance themselves from it. We have to own it, because we, the players who were on the pitch, are the ones who messed it up."
Taylor Swift won over Kelce's skeptical friend in backstage encounter
Taylor Swift won over another new fan in Travis Kelce's friend Taylor Lewan, days before the American power couple are expected to get married at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Swift joined Kelce last week for his annual 'Tight End University' - an event he helps plan for practice and networking with players who play in the position where the Kansas City Chiefs star made his name.
Swift has sprinkled some stardust over the last two events with a brief performance at the concert they host each year and this time, ex-NFL man turned podcast host Lewan got to witness Swift preparing to perform backstage.
Speaking on his popular Bussin' With The Boys podcast, Lewan explained: 'I'll just tell you this, dude - I was kind of into her music when I was younger. I haven't been super into it since then. It is just not my genre.
'The girl is incredible. What a performer. We are sitting backstage for a moment and she's about to go out. She's got a cluster, she's got a gaggle of individuals with her. But she's in the back before she walks out and you can see her just getting in the zone.
'I remember just looking at her being like "it is so cool that somebody who is as successful as she is, as famous as she is, she just handles her business the correct way at all times".
Taylor Swift stunned fans with a surprise performance at Travis Kelce's Tight End University
Swift joined Travis Kelce (left) alongside Claire Kittle, George Kittle, Greg Olsen and Talbot Olsen (L-R) at the opening event of Tight End University on Monday
Bussin' With The Boys host Taylor Lewan was impressed by Swift's performance last week
'And for her to sit back, get in the zone and go out and put on a performance, whether it was three minutes or five minutes, it was a very short amount of time, but the pop from the crowd... everybody in that moment felt like she was singing individually to them. And I thought that was just awesome.'
Swift joined Lainey Wilson on the stage to perform her hit 'Love Story' and dedicated it to Kelce's friend and rival tight end George Kittle, who plays for San Francisco 49ers.
'She probably misses ball!' Lewan joked about the lengthy NFL offseason. 'She misses ball a little bit, dude! But she was awesome. It was just really cool to watch people who are outliers in their craft perform.
'And I thought she is clearly that, the biggest superstar in the world. It is just awesome to see all that going down, all while our boy Trav is just bobbing around, stoked to kind of like be there.'
Swift and Kelce are expected to tie the knot this weekend in New York at the city's most iconic venue.
There were people in the industry who wondered if their plans to marry at MSG were a high-profile decoy but Daily Mail earlier this week shared pictures of equipment getting loaded into the venue, seemingly in preparation for the big day.
It remains to be seen if Lewan is going. He has known Kelce for around 10 years but the guestlist has been kept quiet and those attending have been sworn to secrecy.
And if, as Lewan suggested, Swift is missing football then she doesn't have too much longer to wait.
Kelce's Chiefs team start the season with a Monday Night Football showdown against AFC West rivals Denver Broncos on September 14 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Police chief reveals why Russini avoided ticket for driving on phone
A New Jersey police chief has explained why Dianna Russini did not get a ticket for using her phone while driving after new toe-curling footage showed her name-dropping an NFL coach to avoid punishment.
In the bodycam video, Russini - who stepped down from her job at The Athletic earlier this year after being accused of having an affair with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel - is seen being pulled over by an officer on a snowy day.
After explaining that she was breaking the news that Sean McDermott had been fired by the Buffalo Bills, the sports reporter said she was also on the phone to former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll before asking the officer if he's a fan of the Giants or Jets.
When he told her he is a Vikings fan instead, she showed what looked like a text exchange with Minnesota's head coach, Kevin O'Connell.
The officer returned to Russini's vehicle after checking her documentation before saying: 'I'm gonna cut you a break on the cellphone. I understand your job requires you to be on the phone a lot. Just try to wait 'til you get home, OK?'
In light of the new footage, Chief Forest Ross Lyons of the Ridgewood, New Jersey, Police Department revealed that his officer 'exercised his professional discretion' by issuing Russini a warning rather than a ticket.
A New Jersey police chief has explained why Dianna Russini did not get a ticket for using her phone while driving
Russini left her job as an NFL reporter this year over intimate pictures of her and Mike Vrabel
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'On January 19, 2026, at 9:40 am, a Ridgewood police officer conducted a motor vehicle stop on Godwin Avenue involving Ms. Dianna Russini for the use of a handheld cell phone while driving,' Lyons said in a statement, via NBC Sports.
'After following department protocol during the stop, and reviewing Ms. Russini’s driving history, the officer exercised his professional discretion and issued a verbal warning to Ms. Russini.
'The use of officer discretion in determining whether to issue a warning or a citation is consistent with Ridgewood Police Department policy and longstanding practice. Police officers are encouraged to use their judgment and, when appropriate, provide motorists with warnings as part of the Department’s commitment to fair, impartial and community-oriented policing.'
Back in February, Russini revealed on 'Stugotz and Company' that she was pulled over by police weeks before for texting while driving with her two young sons in the car.
She claimed she told the officer she was using her phone because the Bills had just fired head coach McDermott and she was trying to report the news.
However, she also alleged that she managed to prevent a ticket by getting the head coach of the officer's favorite team to speak with him on FaceTime, which the footage does not appear to show.
It is another desperately embarrassing episode for the former NFL insider, whose world was turned upside down by her affair scandal with Vrabel.
An investigation into Russini and Vrabel's alleged relationship was published by the New York Times on June 24.
Footage shows Russini avoiding a ticket after appearing to show an officer - who was a Vikings fan - a text message exchange with Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell (pictured)
The sports reporter claimed earlier this year that she got O'Connell to speak with the officer
Not only did it detail how she was paid close to $800,000-a-year by the New York Times-owned Athletic before her career collapsed, but it also included comments from her that she wanted to remain private.
However, it also told the story of how bosses at The Athletic were unhappy with her for sharing the story of her allegedly using her relationship with O'Connell to get out of a driving ticket.
'So he names the team [that he is a fan of] and I go, "Oh, I love that team. Do you want to talk to the coach? You should talk to the coach",' Russini claimed on the podcast.
She said she immediately FaceTimed the coach, who 'played all into it' and told the officer 'you should let her go, she’s a good citizen.'
Russini admitted she was 'desperate' in the moment because 'I don’t want to get a ticket. My husband is going to kill me.'
She continued: 'I’m texting and driving. I shouldn’t be doing that I know that… I [called] a coach to get out of a ticket. Like what a nasty play but it worked.'
Danielle Rhoades Ha, a Times Company spokeswoman, called it 'unacceptable conduct', while it later emerged that Russini also never asked or received permission to go on that podcast, which was required.
Russini left her job at The Athletic, where she was one of the highest-paid journalists, just days after bombshell pictures emerged in early April of her appearing intimate with Vrabel at an adults-only resort in Arizona . Both are married with children.
