The bombshell Pablo Torre report couldn't have come at a worse time for the L.A. Clippers. The Clippers are less than a month away from the start of training camp and a little more than a month away from preseason.
That doesn't give the NBA much time to respond to the allegations put forth by Torre that the Clippers circumvented the salary cap. According to Torre, the Clippers gave the star Kawhi Leonard up to $48 million in additional money, on top of his $175 million contract beginning in 2021.
If that is proven to be true, then the NBA could hammer the Clippers in much the same way that they did with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Joe Smith. They punished them by taking away five first-round picks (later dropped down to three) and the equivalent of a $15 million fine in today's money.
Will the allegations affect Kawhi Leonard and Clippers next season?
Fortunately for Clippers fans, the allegations may not affect the Clippers next season, at least on the court. Nevertheless, the potential ramifications could negatively affect the Clippers for years to come.
The Clippers may be out of several future first-round picks. The NBA could potentially strip them of their pick swaps in 2026 and 2028 as well as their first-round picks in 2030, 2031, and 2032.
That will leave them without a first-round pick for eight straight years, proving to be a devastating potential punishment. That may not even be the worst-case scenario, however. NBA insider John Hollinger recently mentioned that he believes the league could void Leonard's contract.
Adam Silver could make an example of the Clippers
That seems unlikely but not out of the question if Commissioner Adam Silver decides to go the Thor route and drop the hammer on the Clippers. It goes without saying that that would tank L.A.'s season with their roster built around him and James Harden.
That could knock them out of the playoff race and guarantee that they'd be giving up a lottery pick next season. Were that to happen, it would be a disastrous ending to the Leonard era and make it much harder to recover without picks.
Even rebuilding through free agency could be tough. After all, stars don't fit free agency nearly as much as they used to, and even if they did, then they're still the Clippers, not the Lakers. They don't have the same level of prestige, especially if the league makes an example of them, but they have put themselves in this position.