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Visit blueapron.com/slash terms for more. Our Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast. on the Infinity Sports Network. Oh, yeah, we might got college football going on. We might have NFL football going on.
You're gonna blink. NBA basketball will be back. in about a month's time as well. And before we even get to training camps and media days, before we send teams overseas, Man, the biggest story in the NBA right now is involving the guy who really never says anything. Apparently he was paid as a spokesperson to do Nothing.
by a company that now doesn't exist. Funded by his team's owner? I don't know. We're talking about. Kawhi Leonard.
There's a lot going on every day. It seems that things change, and apparently, more evidence apparently comes out. The NBA is investigating. Cap circumvention by the Clippers to talk about. This Kawhi situation, some of the other storylines heading into this upcoming season.
Joining us right now as a senior NBA writer who covers all things NBA for the Action Network. It's Matt Moore. Matt, how are you? Doing well, man. How are you?
I'm excellent. When you take a look at everything that's taken place, uh with Kawhi and Leonard. And we heard from Adam Silver yesterday that they are actively investigating. Today we get a report. That one of the minority owners of the Clippers ended up putting two mil into uh that that company and 1.5 went to Kauai.
Do you ultimately feel that this is that there's going to be some punishment levied and laid down? I do. The terms of the CBA, which is the important part here. stipulate that circumstantial evidence can be enough to warrant punishment. There's not a you know, Silver said in his press conference yesterday, That the burden of proof is on the league.
And while that's true, the threshold of that burden of proof is a lot lower than it is in the court of law. Yeah. You know, clearly the other owners are going to be upset with this. Clearly, they're going to have communicated. their outrage and You're already seeing reports coming out of, well, if they don't come down on the clippers, then what stopped me from doing it?
I think that eventually there is going to be uh a punishment levied. I do not feel that anything will happen to Kawhi. I think Kawhi is going to be free to play. The worst that could happen there is that they can basically wipe out that extension. And If there's a possibility of them limiting his ability to re-sign.
But the Clippers, which would be a dramatic situation which Kawhi enters Free agency basically at the conclusion of that investigation when those penalties are handed down. That would be a shocking result. As far as the clippers, the league's office has wide birth here to be able to issue penalties. Typically the rules do state that if A first-round draft pick and $5 million in fines, but those are really drops in the bucket for the Clippers. We wonder if those Penalties are going to be more severe.
Uh but I do think that based off of The N can be Conspicuous nature of the amount in particular. that Ballmer invested fifty eight million And Kawhi was paid to a deal. 48. Sublimatory report. on Pablo Torre finds out today that when Aspiration, the company ran out of money, and Kauai was owed $1.75 million.
A Clippers minority owner invested exactly $2 million. The numbers are too close. in order for this not to be suspect enough and circumstantial. Uh, for there not to be, I think, punishment.
So, I do expect penalties of some sort to wind up impacting the Clippers.
Well, Matt, y you don't believe that Kawhi Leonard's contract will be voided? If that is the case, He becomes a free agent and then what? Does he have to sign somewhere on a minimum? Like, you don't feel there's going to be a punishment, but what could it be for Kawhi? I mean, it can be a suspension.
because he knowingly entered into an agreement that violates the CBA.
So It is entirely possible. Good. The league can choose to suspend him. The most likely though is just a wiping out of that. of his like latest extension, rendering that null.
with the clippers. That's the most likely punishment. If something happens, but you know my league perspective, this is much more of a violation by The clippers, and there's always gonna be, I think, a resistance to punishing players. for getting more money. I think that's always going to be a resistance point Not only by the league, but especially as a fight with the NDPA.
I think that would be difficult. Matt Moore is joining us, senior NBA writer for the Action Network.
Well we have to see how this bears out. I'm sure that we're going to have a resolution prior to the season. At the same time, Malik Beasley, he's been under investigation for gambling. Uh this has been well documented. We know that apparently as of right now that the federal government isn't beating down on him.
But the NBA is certainly looking into his circumstances. Do you think that we're going to see Malik Beasley suit up at all for an NBA team at any point this season? I think it's too soon to tell because I think that The threshold Depending on, because we just talked about how it's different in the Kawhi situation for wrongdoing rather than a legal case, whereas Beasley, was under investigation for a crime. And As he's been cleared of that, you would think like, oh, it should be fine. He can just rejoin, but If the league Find things that They can prove that he did, that the prosecution or the investigators could not determine was worth a case But is enough evidence?
A league? To suspend, then that's a different matter. I think that's why you're seeing. that he hasn't Been signed yet. The other issue is.
Following that, the report of the investigation, a number of other reports came out about his situations. owing people money, being evicted. all those things.
So it does not appear that he has been in a good place And I think teams are wary of approaching him until they can feel like that situation has been resolved. while I think it's definitely important to stress They no longer Under investigation. This crime I do think that the league is still determining exactly what happened and if there's any violation internally. That doesn't to meet the criteria of criminal activity, but still violate the player conduct rules.
Someone that doesn't have to worry about any of that. It'd be shocking if his name popped up in any of that. Is Al Horford. I mean, we're getting closer to the season. And who knows, he may wait until deep into the year.
But we got guys like Al Harford, still a free agent, hasn't signed with the Celtics or anyone else. Russell Westbrook. Still a free agent as well. What are your thoughts on where these two guys might end up? if anywhere at all.
Yeah, I think Horford, I think, is still considering retirement. He's not going to make that decision, I don't think, until. It's time for tr for camp to convene. You know, the Jonathan Caminga situation is widely. Ought to be the hold up with Horford.
uh contract with the Warriors And that Once Kaminga gets signed, Horford will be added to the team. But he may also decide that he just doesn't want to do it. This is the time of year when veterans. Are starting to get into shape, that they're getting into the gym to start getting themselves ready for the season. And if Horford gets to a point where he's just like, I don't want to do this.
I don't want to go through that. That's usually the point where guys decide to hang it up. Obviously pretty close to that. This will be his last season regardless. I think he'll wind up playing with the Old and say Warriors this season.
For Westbrook, it's a little bit more complicated because the number of teams. that were interested really dried up. Most of the Ross's spots have disappeared. And so trying to figure out exactly where he fit is difficult. Yeah, the Kings were probably looking to trade Malik Monk in order to make room for Westbrook, but it seems like they've cooled on that idea.
And now they're kind of resisting it because they're not getting the kind of return for monk, I think, that they expected. on the market, especially I think they were in conversations with the Warriors. on that front for a possible Cominga deal, but it there's a domino effect here. The Warriors decide they're not going to create Dominguez. Which means that the Kings can't get the offer that they want.
Or Malik Monk, which means they don't have room to tie Russell Westbrook.
So all of the there's kind of a domino effect. going on here. Ultimately, I'm not sure where Westbrook's going to be, and I wouldn't be surprised if the preseason start, if not the regular season start. without Russell Westbrook. in uniform Based off of, I don't think he's in a hurry to sign, and I don't think teams are in a hurry to sign him yet.
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Wow. Matt Moore is here with us, senior NBA writer for the Action Network. You talk about point guards not currently having a job. We know that Ben Simmons, apparently dropped by his agent, Not on an NBA team, didn't want to sign with the Knicks, is apparently contemplating his future. Is he done in the NBA or is he just going to be some fashion model somewhere in Europe?
Yeah, I think His agent dropped him after the Knicks debacle, and that's a pretty. bad signal to the other teams that If they don't feel like you're invested, that you're in, that you're really looking to contribute. He comes with too many headaches, not just the encore problem of his offensive limitations. But he's always been known to be a difficult guy. Uh he seems to me like a guy that's going to wind up playing in Europe.
and kind of realizing the mess that he made of what could have been A very lucrative career.
Now he already made a lot of money, but he could have made a lot more. And I wouldn't be surprised if he plays in Europe and then winds up coming back at some point. after that because we still got a lot of potential. But You know, with Simmons, the words always kind of been that's not just the The offensive limitations as far as this jumper goes, it's That the attitude isn't there. The want to isn't there.
I think until that gets resolved, I think teams are going to be really reluctant.
So personally, I'd be surprised if he winds up on the roster. By the time trains we have opened. Yeah. I agree with you on that one. One guy that we know, he ain't going anywhere at least for one more season.
It's LeBron James. We've heard all the stories about how the Lakers have transitioned, rightfully so, to a A younger Luca thinking about down the road as opposed to maybe exactly right now. What do you think the rest of this season is going to look like for LeBron and possibly maybe elsewhere? I think he finishes with the Lakers. You know, there's a lot of talk about the other league that he reportedly could consider starting next season.
I think this is his final go. I'm curious to see whether or not How Nike approaches it actually from a marketing standpoint, because that's always been my argument is. When LeBron hangs it up, you're going to know because they're going to make money off of the retirement tour. And so If this is his last run, he probably needs to decide that going in because there's a lot of people that are going to. It will make including him that will make money.
off of that process. But I am kind of curious about what he wants for Beyond this season. Um I don't know. There's no scenario he gets freighted.
Now with a $52 million expense. Yeah. It's just too difficult to make the math work in today's MBA.
So I don't think there's any chance that he gets traded unless something very dramatic happens midseason with another team. Although I do think that He finishes the season with the Lakers. I kind of expect it to be his last because the Lakers seem ready to move on as well. And what happens with him after that? Who knows?
Because LeBron's Always been one to want to set his own path. and do things his way. And if that means something beyond the NBA, that might be the most interesting path of all.
So, Matt, you believe that this might be LeBron's final season? I'm with you. They're going to try to monetize this. Wouldn't he have to make that announcement in like, I don't know, two or three weeks? Yeah.
Yeah. So if if he comes into season And just says, Yeah, I don't know, I kind of want to play a few more seasons, and you know that he's really in it. I do think that he's talked about this so much though the last couple of years that it's getting harder for him. kinda buy into the want to. And I do think that the Laker situation really frustrated him.
He effectively lost a power battle. Hutch Sports did with the Lakers. And they've made it very clear that they have shifted past him and that's got to be a little insulting. uh given the fact of who he is he's not used to being treated like that Now, there's other places that he could go, but if you wanted to go there, You probably need to do Not pick up that extension, and he could assign wherever he wanted for still a lot of money. And competed for a championship, but he chose to remain with the Lakers because of all his connections to LA.
So I'm just very curious to kind of see what this looks like from a long-term perspective. But I'm also not of the opinion that he he does not sound to me like a guy that is like Yeah, I think I can play five more years. I think he's like, I could play three more years, but I don't know if I want to. And once the want to becomes a question, I I do think that the end comes quicker then. Oh yes, it's gonna get here sooner than later.
Hey, Matt, we know that we're about a month away from the season, so we really appreciate you taking the time and joining us. Please tell everyone where they could follow you and all of your work. Yeah, check out the Action Network. You can also find me on Locked on NBA, the podcast every single day. You can catch me there.
I've got the Buckets podcast and I've got some sub stacks on my Twitter profile as well. Hey man, thank you so much. We'll catch you on down the line, okay? Me time, man. Take care.
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