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Clippers fined and stripped of draft picks

The Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era in Los Angeles has come at a steep price, and the bill just got a lot heavier. A year after Pablo Torre's report that the Clippers allegedly paid Kawhi extra cash through an endorsement deal to get around the salary cap, the NBA has dropped the hammer. The team is out $30 million, Steve Ballmer is suspended for a year, and they're losing first-round picks in every draft from 2029 through 2033. That's on top of the five first-rounders they already gave up to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019 to land Paul George. And with several players set to leave in the coming years, Max Strus, Derrick Jones Jr., Brook Lopez, and Kris Dunn in 2027, followed by Darius Garland, Rui Hachimura, and Bradley Beal in 2028, the roster is going to look very different. The Clips have thrown everything at a championship, but after all those moves, the future is looking pretty uncertain. #KawhiLeonard #PaulGeorge

2mo

Yetundejones@yetundejones

Follow

Clippers fined and stripped of draft picks

The Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era in Los Angeles has come at a steep price, and the bill just got a lot heavier. A year after Pablo Torre's report that the Clippers allegedly paid Kawhi extra cash through an endorsement deal to get around the salary cap, the NBA has dropped the hammer. The team is out $30 million, Steve Ballmer is suspended for a year, and they're losing first-round picks in every draft from 2029 through 2033. That's on top of the five first-rounders they already gave up to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019 to land Paul George. And with several players set to leave in the coming years, Max Strus, Derrick Jones Jr., Brook Lopez, and Kris Dunn in 2027, followed by Darius Garland, Rui Hachimura, and Bradley Beal in 2028, the roster is going to look very different. The Clips have thrown everything at a championship, but after all those moves, the future is looking pretty uncertain. #KawhiLeonard #PaulGeorge

2mo