The NBA has opened an investigation into whether teams violated league rules by attempting to circumvent the salary cap during free agency this summer, according to a new report.
The New York Times published a report by Sopan Deb on Tuesday evening sharing news of the investigation. Deb was unsure whether the investigation was in response to news reports surrounding Kawhi Leonard’s situation or something else. The report states that league owners raised the issue at the Board of Governors meeting in Nevada last month.
Regarding Leonard, two reports have suggested the reigning NBA Finals MVP requested things outside the scope of legal contract items during his talks with the Toronto Raptors.
TSN’s Josh Lewenberg wrote the following in a July 10 article:
According to sources, Leonard and his camp – namely Uncle Dennis – asked for a lot from the Raptors in that meeting, things players don’t generally ask for in standard contract negotiations.
In some cases, they were asking for things that [Raptors GM Masai] Ujiri – one of the most well-compensated executives in the league – wouldn’t have even had at his disposal. Their requests were “unreasonable”, a source said, which made the Raptors wonder whether Leonard was seriously considering them at all.
The report was augmented by Stephen A. Smith, who said on ESPN Monday that Leonard’s manager Dennis Robertson was asking for extra things.
