Ben Simmons is back in the NBA after agreeing to a one-year deal with the Kings. Simmons was once a promising prospect and will look to revive a basketball career that has gone off the rails in recent seasons. But not everyone is sold on Simmons’ return, especially ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith.
Speaking on “First Take” on Friday morning, Smith did not hold back on his thoughts, going as far as to say that Simmons should be the first player in the NBA to pay the team to let him play in an NBA uniform.
“I’ve seen one of the great, great talents; I’m talking about a dude at 6’10” y’all, this is not an exaggeration,” Smith said. “6’10”, was ambidextrous: the handle, the passing ability, the defensive prowess. This brother could do everything but shoot. He was something special. And somehow, someway, something happened to this dude’s mental and he treated taking a shot as if you asked him to be on the front lines in Afghanistan. It made no sense whatsoever… here’s my question, y’all. How come he isn’t paying Sacramento? He should be paying them to let him play.
“He should be the first player in the NBA that actually pays the team to let him play in an NBA uniform considering the thievery he engaged in for a few years disguised as an NBA player where he was scared of his own damn shadow.”
"[Ben Simmons] should be the first player in the NBA that actually pays the team to let him play in an NBA uniform."@stephenasmith did NOT hold back on Ben Simmons’ return 😭 pic.twitter.com/hnTlF6leVS
Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, had a strong start to his career with the Philadelphia 76ers despite missing his true rookie season with an injury. Making his debut in the 2017-18 season, Simmons won the league Rookie of the Year Award and was a three-time All-Star from 2019-21 while also earning two NBA All-Defensive Team selections and an All-NBA selection, among other accolades.
But starting with the 2021-22 season, Simmons started to struggle mentally and eventually decided he no longer wanted to play for the 76ers, leading to a trade to the Brooklyn Nets. Unable to regain his form in Brooklyn, Simmons was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers midway through the 2024-25 season, where he remained until he became a free agent.
Simmons then spent all of last season out of basketball but continued to train in the hopes of a comeback. Now getting his comeback shot with the Kings, Simmons will look to prove that he still has what it takes to be a valuable player for an NBA franchise.
Philadelphia, PA - April 24: Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla diagrams a play before the game. The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers played in the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena on April 24, 2026. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
There are few phrases in basketball that sound more universally agreeable than “win the margins.” About as agreeable as, “you want players who really know how to put the ball in the basket.”
Of course every team wants to win the margins! Take care of the basketball. Crash the glass. Don’t give away possessions. Make the other team earn everything. Anyone who played organized hoops can probably hear at least one former coach screaming those words.
The Celtics have spent the past few years taking those details increasingly seriously. Last season, with Jayson Tatum returning from a torn Achilles and a roster that didn’t have nearly as much talent or room for error as the championship team did, the philosophy made even more sense.
For the most part, it worked.
Boston won 56 games and finished second in the league in offensive rating. It did so while playing at the slowest pace in basketball, just 95.58 possessions per 48 minutes. That sentence alone should probably prevent me from spending the rest of this article aggressively typing out, PLAY FASTER, over and over.
Slow basketball was not bad basketball. But there’s a more interesting question hiding underneath those devilish numbers.
At what point does controlling the game become trying to control it too much?
The case for control: just look at the scoreboard
Let’s start with the obvious defense of Boston’s approach: the Celtics were really freaking good last year.
A team does not bumble its way into producing a 120.0 offensive rating across 82 games. Even with Tatum missing most of the season, Boston remained one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses.
2025-26 CELTICS (NBA Rank)
First three weeks… W-L 5-7 (20th) Offense: 14th Defense: 13th 3-point%: 27th O Rebounding: 12th D Rebounding: 27th Rebounding: 21st
Since… W-L 51-19 (3rd) Offense: 2nd Defense: 4th 3-point%: 5th O Rebounding: 5th D Rebounding: 3rd Rebounding: 3rd
This was also a team with obvious reasons to value possessions more than its predecessors.
The 2024 Celtics could survive a possession where Jaylen Brown dribbled the ball off his foot, Kristaps Porzingis missed a rotation, or Tatum succumbed to the allure of dribbling, dribbling, then settling for a step-back three. There was so much talent on the floor that individual mistakes frequently disappeared inside the larger machine.
The current Celtics do not have that luxury.
When your regular rotation includes a combination of Paul George, Mitchell Robinson, Neemias Queta, Baylor Scheierman, Hugo González, and the rest of the gang, possessions begin to feel a little more precious. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in those guys to perform (fun fact, I’m actually quite a big fan of the Celtics). It just means the difference between a good possession and a wasted one matters more when the automatic 25 points from Jaylen Brown are now showing up on somebody else’s box score.
Last season, Boston squeezed value wherever it could find it.
The most striking example was on the offensive glass. The Celtics’ offensive rebounding percentage jumped from 28.7% during their championship season to 33.6% last year. That’s winning the margins in its purest form. Miss the shot? Go get another one.
That alone isn’t concerning. Again, second-ranked offense. But other things changed too.
Their effective field goal percentage fell from 57.8% in 2024 to 55.3%. Their assist percentage dropped from 61.3% to 58.5%. Their turnover percentage actually rose slightly, from 12.1% to 12.9%.
If the Celtics are going to spend more time carefully assembling possessions because they’re afraid of wasting them, presumably they should, well, waste fewer of them.
Boston didn’t.
And while its three-point volume declined substantially from the sky-high levels of the previous season, that didn’t suddenly turn the Celtics into a rim-attacking team. At the All-Star break, only 40% of Boston’s shots had come in the paint, the lowest percentage in the NBA, which is a slightly strange outcome for a team that had also stopped attempting threes at a rate that made opposing broadcast crews question the future of the sport.
So where exactly was all this patience taking them? This is where the shot clock of it all becomes interesting.
But get below seven seconds and things changed quickly. Boston’s effective field goal percentage between seven and four seconds fell from 55.8% in 2024 to 48.2% last season. In the final four seconds of the shot clock, the Celtics managed just a 44.7% eFG.
When the pin gets pulled, someone eventually has to throw the grenade. The question is how often Boston was the one quietly holding it for 19 seconds before doing something.
There’s a difference between reaching four seconds on the shot clock because the defense blew up your first two actions and reaching four seconds because you spent the first 18 trying to force the exact matchup you wanted.
Basketball is full of possessions where a team passes up a good shot in pursuit of a great one. It gets trickier when the great shot never arrives and the original good shot is waving at you in the rearview mirror.
What the Philly series told us
For most of the regular season, Boston’s method was successful enough that these concerns remained mostly theoretical.
Then came Games 5, 6, and 7 against Philadelphia. In case you forgot, the Celtics entered Game 5 with a 3-1 series lead. Three games later, their season was over.
The strange part is that the traditional markers of sloppy basketball weren’t really the culprit.
Boston’s turnover percentage actually improved slightly in the series, from 12.9% to 12.6%. Its assist percentage rose from 58.5% during the regular season to 62.2%.
The Celtics were being careful. The possessions were intact. The offense was not.
Sometimes you need tracking data and possession analysis to figure out why an offense failed. Sometimes it shoots 3-for-22 and leaves the murder weapon on the kitchen table.
By Game 6, the offense increasingly looked like one player attacking a matchup while everybody else waited to see how it turned out. Before Game 7, I noted that Boston had climbed to the third-highest isolation frequency among playoff teams as its usual movement and paint pressure disappeared.
Offensive rebounding was the secret sauce of the Celtics posting the 5th best offensive rating in NBA history.
The Sixers held Boston to a 16.7% OReb rate in Game 6, that ranked 87th of 88 games this year.
Looking back, I’m starting to wonder whether “discipline” had quietly morphed into something else. Something yuckier. Because an isolation possession can be incredibly controlled in ways that feel beneficial. You know who has the ball. You know which defender you want involved. Everyone knows where to stand. There is very little chaos.
Unfortunately, defenses like knowing where everyone is standing too.
Maybe the Celtics need a little mess
This is the part that matters for the team walking into training camp in a little less than a month.
Boston has even less reason to expect perfection this season.
Brown is gone (apologies if this is how you’re finding out). We still don’t know exactly what Tatum’s post-Achilles peak will look like. Paul George is 36. And some of the most interesting players on this roster are guys whose usefulness may be tied to letting basketball become a little weird.
Pritchard has always seemed most alive when the game gets a little kooky. We’ve seen him grab a rebound and suddenly decide the Celtics are playing seven seconds or less.
Queta thrives in the part of a possession where the gameplan starts to crumble. Missed shots, loose balls, broken plays. That’s where his size and motor can turn something ugly into two points.
Scheierman’s best possessions often feel like they happen before the opponent has fully logged into the meeting. Catch it, move it, shoot it before the defense settles in.
And González enters the league with physicality and energy that feel much more useful in motion than they would standing in the corner while Boston spends 17 seconds negotiating the terms of a switch. We saw that energy provide a much-needed spark in Game 7 against the Sixers.
None of that means the Celtics should abandon structure and start playing like somebody accidentally set the shot clock to 14.
They still need discipline. Maybe this year more than ever.
But the best version of Boston’s offense may be one that knows precisely what it wants while remaining comfortable with the possibility that the possession will go somewhere else.
That was one of the luxuries of the 2023-24 championship team. Boston had so many good players capable of making decisions that possessions had room to breathe. Tatum might start something, White might continue it, Horford might redirect it and Brown might finish it. The first action didn’t have to work because the offense didn’t treat every possession like a math problem with one correct answer.
The old Celtics had enough talent to survive imperfection.
These Celtics have less margin for error, which makes the desire for greater control completely understandable.
But trying to eliminate mistakes can come with its own cost. Basketball advantages are fleeting. A defender leaning the wrong way for half a second, a big trailing the play, a rebound bouncing somewhere nobody expected. Those moments do not politely wait for the offense to finish organizing itself.
Sometimes the right decision is the imperfect one available right now.
That might be particularly important for a roster featuring players like Pritchard, González, Scheierman, Queta and the rest of the upstart Celtics. They may not give Boston the same overwhelming talent advantage it once had, but they might give the Celtics something messier and slightly less predictable.
Maybe the challenge for Joe Mazzulla this season isn’t figuring out how to make an imperfect team play perfect basketball.
Maybe it’s trusting that a little imperfection is where some of this team’s best basketball might actually live.
Simmons and the Kings have agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million free-agent contract, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Marc J. Spears reported Friday, citing agents Max Wiepking, Sean Tribe and Ryan Arney.
Just in: Three-time All-Star Ben Simmons has agreed on a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Sacramento Kings, his agents Max Wiepking, Sean Tribe and Ryan Arney tell me and @MarcJSpears. The one-time All-NBA star is back in the NBA for a 10th season after sitting out 2025-26. pic.twitter.com/xj5X7lr3op
Simmons didn’t play in the NBA during the 2025-26 NBA season. His last appearance came on April 29, 2025, during the Los Angeles Clippers’ first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets.
Simmons was the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016, but he sat out the entire 2016-17 season due to a foot injury. When he finally got on the court, he lived up to the hype, winning the 2017-18 NBA Rookie of the Year and making the NBA All-Star Game each of the next three seasons.
But that’s where the two-time All-Defensive First Team selection’s career derailed.
Following a rough playoff series with the Sixers to end the 2021 season, Simmons made his intentions known that he had no interest in playing in Philadelphia anymore, so he held out.
Philadelphia eventually traded him the following February to the Brooklyn Nets, in a deal that brought back James Harden.
Simmons played 90 games over parts of three seasons with the Nets before they waived him in February 2025. He then signed with the Clippers and finished the year with them.
Now, Simmons will try to resurrect his career with the rebuilding Kings, who need veteran leaders.
Last year, Russell Westbrook filled that role, and Sacramento hopes Simmons can do that this season.
SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 5: Drew Eubanks #19 of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 5, 2026 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The New York Knicks still have work to do before opening their NBA championship defense, with 13 players on guaranteed contracts and a particular need for additional depth behind their established centers.
On Thursday, SNY’s Ian Begley reported that veterans Drew Eubanks and John Konchar are among the free agents on New York’s radar as training camp approaches.
“Per SNY sources, guard-forward John Konchar and forward-center Drew Eubanks are among the players on New York’s radar as we draw closer to training camp,” Begley reported. “Konchar, recently waived and stretched after a trade to Minnesota, is known as a strong rebounder/defender/offensive connector who can knock down perimeter shots over his seven-year NBA career.
“Eubanks’ 2025-26 season in Sacramento was cut short in March following surgery to repair a UCL tear in his left thumb. The 6-foot-10 veteran would presumably be competing with a couple of other big men for the Knicks’ third center spot.“
This week’s mailbag hits on free agents on NYK radar (Eubanks, Konchar) and takes questions on Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and more. Thanks to @Jblackwing, @NYKsection310, @SBart_89, @coachDØ721 for the questions!
Eubanks would obviously address the more obvious positional need, as New York currently has Karl-Anthony Towns as its starting center and uber-veteran Andre Drummond as the lone backup, following the exits of Mitchell Robinson and Ariel Hukporti.
The 29-year-old spent last season with the Sacramento Kings, averaging 5.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 13.1 minutes per game, but injuries limited him to just 42 appearances.
As expected, Begley suggested that Eubanks’ deal, if signed, would likely be non-guaranteed and that the veteran would face competition for the third-center position, à la Brogdon-Mathews-Shamet last summer.
Konchar, meanwhile, would offer the Knicks a much-different option for one of their two final spots. The 30-year-old guard-forward became available after Minnesota waived him after trading for him last week.
Konchar averaged 4.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals across 56 games with Memphis and the Jazz last season.
Still, don’t trip. The Knicks have two standard roster openings, yes, but the Knicks are also expected to begin the season with only 14 players because of 1) their proximity to the second tax apron and 2) youknowwho. Hooray!
Anyway, New York has more than a month remaining before beginning its championship defense, with Begley reporting that its final roster decisions are still being evaluated and most likely down to the wire once training camp and preseason are completed, and the Knicks know everything they know about their prospective candidates.
The question posed to Warriors coach Steve Kerr was simple: “What would you consider satisfactory next season?” He dodged it like a world-class middleweight.
“You get into the danger zone when you start trying to predict stuff,” Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area on Thursday. “For me, this is all about the process and what we’re doing day in and day out. This is a season where we’ve got to get back to our values, our basics, supporting each other, bringing great attention to detail day in and day out.
“That starts with our staff having a great camp, really being prepared for everything we’re going to face this year, and we have to convey that to the players.”
The days of championship-or-bust have long passed. There is no announced quest for home-court advantage in the first round of the 2027 NBA playoffs. No expressing a desire for a top-six finish in the Western Conference. Not even playoffs or bust.
Nor was there a “We’ll show the doubters” vow.
Kerr is staring into the reality of where the Warriors are 25 days before training camp opens in Hawaii. A low-sizzle offseason left the franchise with a layer of uncertainties thicker than a hardcover dictionary.
The coach clings to belief, however, that Golden State has a chance to compete at the highest levels, and he believes that is within reach.
“If we can really lock in on a great process, which I’m very confident we will, we can get off to a good start and build some momentum,” he said. “That’s my main goal. To just kind of rebuild everything, get back to our roots and have a great camp, and see where it all takes us.
“But I’m very confident we can have a great year.”
What is left to interpretation is the definition of “great.” Oddsmakers have the Warriors in the middle of the NBA pack, somewhere between 12th and 16th, in championship odds. Golden State’s win total sits at 39.5, a mere 2.5 more than last season — which collapsed under a spate of injuries, most notably to Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler III.
This is a reasonable outlook befitting a roster with so many variables and caveats that beneath the veneer of hope is widespread crossing of fingers by everyone on the payroll.
Finishing among the top six teams in the West would be, from a rational point of view, a good season. A top-four finish would be exceptional. Returning to the NBA play-in tournament for the fourth consecutive season would be profoundly unsatisfying.
“We understand we got some players who are older, and we can’t count on them for 82 games,” Kerr conceded. “But we have a lot of institutional knowledge.”
Kerr has no idea how many games to project for 36-year-old Draymond Green, 40-year-old Al Horford, 31-year-old – but oft-sidelined – Kristaps Porzingis or 38-year-old Curry. Butler turns 37 this month and isn’t expected to return until the second half of the season. Golden State’s best players have high mileage.
There is an infusion of youth with talented rookie Yaxel Lendesborg, who is advanced enough to expect heavy minutes with a chance to earn a starting role. He’s part of the under-25 group that includes Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Will Richard and Moses Moody, who isn’t expected back until 2027.
“We’ve got to win some games early and stay with the pack,” Kerr said. “But I’m excited about it. We’ve added some good players with Yaxel, Georges Niang, and believe Brandon Williams can help us. Our young guys obviously had a great summer, winning Summer League and really putting in a lot of work.
“The biggest things are figuring out who’s going to start, and what’s the rotation going to look like? Can Yaxel will play the 3 with Draymond at the 4, with Kristaps or Al at the 5? What would that look like? We’ll have a lot of time to determine that.”
Even with Golden State’s list of knowns buried under its list of unknowns, Kerr — like general manager Mike Dunleavy and CEO Joe Lacob — expresses confidence that the 2026-27 season will be superior to 2025-26.
Which is why the coach is seeking patience and faith from Dub Nation, where there is overt displeasure after an offseason with perceived underwhelming additions.
“I think there’s absolutely reason for hope,” Kerr said. “We have some good young players. We’re all really excited about Yaxel. I would guess we’ll have better health this year; we had some bad luck last year. I think we’re probably due for a little better luck this year.”
Put another way, Kerr and the Warriors are hoping luck comes in cycles.
Simmons and the Kings have agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million free-agent contract, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Marc J. Spears reported Friday, citing agents Max Wiepking, Sean Tribe and Ryan Arney.
Just in: Three-time All-Star Ben Simmons has agreed on a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Sacramento Kings, his agents Max Wiepking, Sean Tribe and Ryan Arney tell me and @MarcJSpears. The one-time All-NBA star is back in the NBA for a 10th season after sitting out 2025-26. pic.twitter.com/xj5X7lr3op
Simmons didn’t play in the NBA during the 2025-26 NBA season. His last appearance came on April 29, 2025, during the Los Angeles Clippers’ first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets.
Simmons was the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016, but he sat out the entire 2016-17 season due to a foot injury. When he finally got on the court, he lived up to the hype, winning the 2017-18 NBA Rookie of the Year and making the NBA All-Star Game each of the next three seasons.
But that’s where the two-time All-Defensive First Team selection’s career derailed.
Following a rough playoff series with the Sixers to end the 2021 season, Simmons made his intentions known that he had no interest in playing in Philadelphia anymore, so he held out.
Philadelphia eventually traded him the following February to the Brooklyn Nets, in a deal that brought back James Harden.
Simmons played 90 games over parts of three seasons with the Nets before they waived him in February 2025. He then signed with the Clippers and finished the year with them.
Now, Simmons will try to resurrect his career with the rebuilding Kings, who need veteran leaders.
Last year, Russell Westbrook filled that role, and Sacramento hopes Simmons can do that this season.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 24: Keyonte George #3 of the Utah Jazz smiles during the game against the Miami Heat on January 24, 2025 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Keyonte George was easily one of the most underrated players in the NBA last season. Surrounded by a cast of teammates that was pared down week after week, George continued to put up fantastic numbers as the most consistent playmaker for the season. Never forget the list of players like Kennedy Chandler, Walter Clayton, Andersson Garcia, Taylor Hendricks, John Konchar, Bez Mbeng, Oscar Tshiebwe, and Vince Williams, among others. Some were better than others, but regardless of who was on the floor, George finished the season with a stat line of 23.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 6.1 assists. George did this while shooting 37.1% from three and 45.6% from the field. But the most exciting part of Keyonte George’s season was what he did to start the season with the best of the Utah roster as the main point guard.
In George’s first five games, he averaged 9.2 assists per game. It was an interesting lineup, with Kyle Filipowski starting at the 4. In his first eight games, he averaged 7.9 assists, and Taylor Hendricks was brought into the starting lineup. But another change to the rotation looks like it altered his play even more. It was in game 8 that Utah brought Isaiah Collier into the lineup. With Collier taking the role of point guard while on the floor, George’s assist totals dropped, but surprisingly not as much as you might expect. For the rest of the season, George averaged 5.8 assists per game. That is pretty impressive, considering he’s playing with all the different players Utah rolled out.
The biggest story for George was the leap he made last season. There are real reasons to think that George will take another leap next year, even a big leap. In that 8-game stretch to start the season, George shot 26.1% from three and 42.1% from the field, for 38.1% from three and 46.2% from the field. He got better as the year went on in a real way. With each game, he became more and more the focal point of the offense and the player opposing defenses focused on. Is that 38% from three and 46% from the field the floor for George next season? Possibly.
It also wasn’t empty statistics. Going back to the combination of George and Collier, I wanted to check out the data from the team at NBA Wowy, who do lineup data that removes garbage time. Here’s how the combination of Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier did.
The most interesting part of the data is how good Utah’s offense was with Keyonte George leading the way. George led the Utah offense to be 4.2 points per 100 possessions better as the primary playmaker without Isaiah Collier on the floor, including a 120.4 offensive rating. For reference, and this is extremely noisy, and I’m not sure I even trust it, or I’m reading this right, but the Knicks had a league-best 119.9 offensive rating last season, according to NBA.com. Once again, that’s with garbage time removed, and it’s very parceled minutes, but that’s an incredible sign for Keyonte George next season for what he can do.
What happens with George sharing the floor with Darryn Peterson instead of Isaiah Collier? Peterson can play both off and on the ball and will shoot it at a high clip. Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. are all-star-caliber players who will finish plays at a high level. There’s also no reason to think that Ace Bailey doesn’t take some sort of leap next year as well. What this all tells me is that Keyonte George needs to be the player from those first 8 games last season. George could be a revelation as the point guard next year and could average anywhere from 8-10 assists per game. If anything, we should probably expect something close to that. If he can combine that with the improved percentages we saw from him, we may have a very special player who will demand a big contract. And Utah would also be smart to give it to him, especially if he can prove to be better defensively. But that’s another story for another day.
After the NBA handed the Clippers a historic punishment, one of the country’s most decorated investigative journalists believes Pablo Torre still isn’t getting enough credit.
Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, whose “Perversion of Justice” investigation helped expose Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and the system that protected him, ripped The New York Times and The Athletic for what she viewed as minimizing Torre’s role in uncovering the Clippers scandal.
“It is shameful that @nytimes @TheAthletic buried the fact that the biggest punishment in NBA history was the result of an investigation by journalist @PabloTorre,” Brown wrote on X. “And to call it the result of a ‘podcast episode’ is a further slap in the face.”
Pablo S. Torre attends The Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful People in Media event at Daniel on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in New York City. The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images
Brown received a 2026 Pulitzer special citation for her groundbreaking Epstein reporting. The Pulitzer board honored her work for exposing Epstein’s abuse, the justice system that protected him and the powerful network surrounding him.
Torre and the staff of “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” meanwhile, won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting specifically for their investigation into how the Clippers seemingly circumvented NBA salary cap rules.
A year later, the NBA concluded that the Clippers committed a “pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations” by facilitating outside income opportunities for Leonard with companies doing business with the franchise. Los Angeles was fined $30 million and stripped of five first-round picks, while owner Steve Ballmer received a one-year suspension.
Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald is seen at the Manhattan Federal Court in New York on Sept. 24, 2019. REUTERS
The league also suspended Clippers executives Gillian Zucker and Lawrence Frank, fined Leonard $700,000 and banned Leonard’s former business representative Dennis Robertson from conducting NBA business for five years. The NBA said its findings followed an independent investigation by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
The findings landed after months in which Torre’s reporting had faced significant pushback.
Ballmer and the Clippers repeatedly denied wrongdoing. When Torre’s original report surfaced, the team called allegations that it circumvented the salary cap “provably false.”
Steve Ballmer attends a basketball game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Indiana Pacers at Intuit Dome on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Inglewood, California. Getty Images
Mark Cuban became one of Torre’s most prominent skeptics, publicly declaring himself “Team Ballmer” and arguing Torre was focusing on the wrong villain. Cuban warned that Torre’s theory involving Ballmer would “back fire on him.”
Pablo S. Torre attends the 85th Annual Peabody Awards on Sunday, June 1, 2025, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California. Variety via Getty Images
It was an extraordinary two-word concession after a year in which Torre’s reporting had repeatedly been questioned.
Brown argued the resistance Torre encountered made the lack of recognition more glaring.
“Pablo’s work was so threatening that the Clippers hired ‘fixers’ to try to smear him — yet he continued to report on this even in the face of immense pressure,” Brown wrote, an allegation she made without providing additional evidence in the post.
She also praised Torre for pushing sports journalism toward greater accountability.
Investigative reporter Julie K. Brown is photographed in the Miami Herald newsroom on Thursday, July 24, 2025. TNS
“Pablo Torre won a Pulitzer Prize for a reason,” Brown wrote. “He is changing sports journalism: forcing transparency and accountability to a system that has operated in the dark for a long time.”
The Pulitzer board itself has been considerably less coy about Torre’s impact.
After the NBA announced its findings, the organization published a piece highlighting the real-world impact of the reporting and noting that Torre had “broken the whole affair” the previous year.
Brown’s point was simpler.
Torre didn’t merely host a podcast episode about the Clippers.
He uncovered the story that ultimately triggered an NBA investigation and one of the most consequential punishments in league history.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 19: Head coach, Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers throws the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on September 19, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There’s no question that the Dodgers’ approach to baseball has been successful. Under Mark Walter, the team has morphed into a dynasty.
It made sense, then, to try to replicate that approach with the Lakers once he took charge. However, it wasn’t exactly a smooth process attempting to do so.
Call it reluctance by the Lakers to adapt. Call it an inability to communicate their approach by the Dodgers. But the end result, as reported recently by Dan Woike of The Athletic, was some Lakers staffers being rubbed the wrong way by the Dodgers’ staffers.
Still, multiple sources in different departments expressed optimism about the direction of the franchise under Iger and Kushner. Some felt the Dodgers’ impact on the Lakers was pushing too hard toward analytics and doing so with an arrogance that turned off some people in basketball operations and the locker room. Those people weren’t upset to see a pathway for new management to come in, even if it’s a bit of a mystery and doesn’t have the track record of the Dodgers’ success.
Skepticism about whether the Dodgers’ analytics-heavy approach would work in the NBA is understandable. In baseball, every event is isolated, making it easier to manipulate or exploit.
In basketball, everything flows from one end to the other, so analytics play a different role. Analytics still have a role in the game, but a different one than in baseball.
At the same time, the Lakers’ front office is full of people who have mostly done things one type of way for a long time. Change isn’t hard and isn’t always well-received, even with the best of intentions.
Having said all that, it also feels entirely possible that the Dodgers, knowing that they’ve had success and the Lakers largely haven’t, could have come in with a sense of superiority. Deserved or not, it could have led to a rocky relationship between the two sides.
It’s really impossible to tell which of these options, or combinations of them, is the truth. For better or worse, the truth won’t matter much anymore either.
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 07: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Los Angeles Clippers reacts to a play during the first quarter of the NBA game against the Dallas Mavericks at Intuit Dome on April 07, 2026 in Inglewood, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The NBA concluded its investigation into the Clippers circumventing the cap to offer Kawhi Leonard more money than they were allowed, found proof of malfeasance, and came down hard on the franchise by docking five first-round picks, levying a $ 30 million fine on Steve Ballmer, and suspending the owner and other executives. The Clippers have denied any wrongdoing and want to fight the decision.
On the Leonard side, the punishment wasn’t as severe. Kawhi was fined $700,000, and his uncle and former manager, Dennis Robertson, has been banned from engaging any team on behalf of any employee for five years. Leonard released a statement in which he didn’t admit to any wrongdoing by himself, but accepted responsibility for the mistakes of his inner circle.
It was an interesting and somewhat unexpected conclusion to a year-long saga that began when journalist Pablo Torre brought to light initial evidence of cap circumvention, prompting Ballmer to deny any wrongdoing in an ESPN interview and forcing the league to launch the investigation. Those who followed the subsequent podcasts from Torre about the topic were likely convinced the Clippers and Leonard had broken the rules, but whether the league would reach the same conclusion and actually punish the parties involved wasn’t as clear. In the end, the result of the official investigation was enough for Adam Silver to drop the hammer on the Clippers.
Leonard, meanwhile, escapes largely unscathed. The fine is tiny compared to the under-the-table money he reportedly got. His contract won’t be voided, so he’ll land in Toronto, where he might get an extension and play out the last few years of his career before entering the Hall of Fame. This entire situation will not destroy his reputation, as the franchise and Uncle Dennis will be the ones blamed for it all while Kawhi will be painted as a largely innocent party to it. Spurs fans looking for some cathartic comeuppance can’t possibly be satisfied, since nothing significant actually happened to the targets of their persistent rage.
Let’s start with Uncle Dennis. The fact that Robertson has been banned from doing business with the NBA for five years is immaterial. Kawhi was his only customer, and he already benefited as much as he possibly could from his sloppy rule-breaking. He can’t do any more damage now, but he had plenty of time before. As for his future as an agent or business manager for NBA players, it’s unlikely Uncle Dennis wanted one, but even if he did, he might still have one. Robertson never cared about his reputation, which was terrible from the second he became a public figure, so the confirmation that he was actually doing all the shady things many people from different franchises said he had done in the past won’t dissuade anyone who wanted to be represented by him in the first place. No one who has been paying attention is surprised by any of what the investigation proved.
As for Leonard himself, as mentioned, he will be fine. Kawhi will largely be shielded from criticism, as he has normally been. After all, Leonard recently fired his uncle (a fact that ESPN’s Sham Charania made sure to include in his breaking news tweet) and has now indirectly condemned him in his statement. The notion that Leonard, the beneficiary of Robertson’s behaviour, conveniently became aware that his business manager was not following the rules when the walls were finally closing in on the operation, but never before, is laughable. But Dennis is a more interesting character, and Kawhi is still good at basketball, so he’ll probably get a pass from most people, as he has in the past when a large part of the media made jokes about the obvious dishonesty of his representation but rarely seriously discussed it.
Ultimately, Uncle Dennis and Leonard have won, as The San Antonio Express-News’ Mike Finger explains in his insightful opinion piece. Robertson accomplished what he set out to do: extract as much money from people who wanted his nephew on their team in any way he could while making sure Kawhi played where he wanted to and where he was allowed to have preferential treatment. For his part, Kawhi got to benefit from his uncle not only getting him what he wanted by any means necessary but also shielding him from the type of scrutiny any other superstar would have gotten with all the noise surrounding the business side of his career.
A lot of Spurs fans have moved on from the Leonard fiasco from eight years ago and won’t really care about what happened with this incident, but not all. Unfortunately, for those who were still looking for some form of karmic punishment for Leonard and his uncle after the painful, destructive way they left the franchise, there’s simply not much vindication to be found in the results of the investigation or joy in the consequences that followed. It might be time to accept that the boos Leonard gets when he visits San Antonio are as good as it’s going to get when it comes to catharsis.
The Lakers may have found their post-Jonathan Kuminga fallback plan.
The reigning NBA champions could spoil that one, too.
Veteran guard Bruce Brown has emerged as a potential Lakers target following Los Angeles’ failed pursuit of Kuminga, but NBA insider Brett Siegel believes the Knicks are currently the more realistic landing spot.
Bruce Brown of the Denver Nuggets goes up for a shot between Day’Ron Sharpe and Cam Thomas of the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, March 19, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The Nuggets defeated the Nets 108-102. Corey Sipkinfor the NY POST
“There’s been some talk about the Lakers wanting Bruce Brown after missing out on Kuminga, but I’m not really sure how much I believe that,” Siegel said on “Clutch Scoops.” “I would cast doubt on the Lakers. Could they make it happen? Maybe. But I would look at the Knicks as a realistic option.”
Brown would be a much smaller acquisition but arguably an easier fit financially.
The 30-year-old played all 82 games for Denver last season, averaging 7.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 47.5%. He also brings championship experience from the Nuggets’ 2023 title team and can defend multiple positions, handle the ball and operate without needing a large offensive role.
The Lakers have been interested before. Brown revealed that he nearly signed with Los Angeles in 2023 before Indiana swooped in with a two-year, $40 million offer.
New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown during a team practice on Monday, June 1, 2026, at the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Greenburgh, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Three years later, his market could come down to a veteran-minimum contract.
The problem is that New York can offer a compelling destination of its own.
Siegel believes Brown could function as a smaller-scale version of Josh Hart for the Knicks — defending, rebounding, creating and filling whatever role is needed for a team attempting to repeat as champion.
“He could come in and play that Josh Hart-type role for the Knicks,” Siegel said. “I think, personally for me, that would be a really good fit.”
Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves drives against Bruce Brown of the Denver Nuggets during Game 5 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in Denver, Colorado. Getty Images
Los Angeles also has other priorities.
The Lakers already added Walker Kessler, Kevon Looney, Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams during an offseason focused heavily on defense and roster balance, but questions remain about their frontcourt depth and size at forward.
Dwight Powell has been mentioned as one realistic minimum-salary option because of his extensive history playing alongside Luka Doncic in Dallas. Drew Eubanks, Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee also remain among the available veteran big men.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick reacts on the court during the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York Knicks game on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
On the wing, the dream targets are much more ambitious.
OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges have been floated as the type of bigger two-way forwards who would give Los Angeles exactly what it lacks, although there is little reason for the championship Knicks to break up either piece of their core. Any significant trade would also likely require the Lakers to find a taker for Jarred Vanderbilt and combine additional salary and assets.
That makes Brown attractive precisely because he wouldn’t require a blockbuster.
The Lakers could add another proven defender and secondary ball-handler without dramatically altering the roster.
First, though, they may have to convince Brown not to join the team they could eventually have to beat in June.
Los Angeles Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talks to reporters during a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday, August 18, 2014. Ballmer said on Friday, Oct. 16, 2015, that he bought a 4-percent stake in Twitter, making him the third-largest holder of Twitter shares. AP
“This was the biggest punishment ever handed out in the National Basketball Association. You know all of it at this point…This was a phenomenal level of incompetence from [Steve] Ballmer and the Clippers. They have screwed up almost a decade and a half of their franchise,” Simmons said on The Ringer.
“I never thought the Clippers would find a new rock bottom, but I think they have.”
“This was a phenomenal level of incompetence from [Steve] Ballmer and the Clippers.”@BillSimmons reacts to the Clippers’ punishments and explains why the team and fans have hit a new rock bottom. pic.twitter.com/tNEcoJ0VTR
Simmons believes Ballmer has outdone previous Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was forced to sell the team in 2014 after audio recordings of his racist remarks were revealed. Sterling faces a lifetime ban from NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
Steve Ballmer laughs with Kawhi Leonard at the star’s introductory press conference in 2019. MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Ballmer purchased the team from the Sterling family for $2 billion in 2014, with a fairly simple task after Stering sullied his reputation. But it appears the franchise drama has only continued under Ballmer, though he denies the findings of the NBA’s investigation.
There is speculation that the next step is Ballmer potentially striking back and filing a lawsuit against the NBA. The team’s statement on the results of the investigation indicate the salary cap saga is far from over.
Bill Simmons addressed the Clippers, Steve Ballmer scandal on his podcast, The Ringer. Spotify
“For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith and we will now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence. We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process,” the Clippers statement read.
While the Clippers owner tries to prove otherwise, there has been overwhelming evidence indicating he was directly involved in violating the league’s salary cap circumvention rules.
Only time will tell where this story goes from here.
Let me get this right: The Los Angeles Clippers got busted by the NBA for offering improper benefits to a player it was trying to sign, apologized and promised not to do it again, and then … did?
These folks aren’t just shady, they’re reckless. Or lazy. Or stupid. Or some combination of the three. That alone makes them deserving of all those harsh penalties the NBA dropped on them for setting up side hustles between Kawhi Leonard and four companies.
"The Clippers were especially aware of the CBA's circumvention rules in this area because the NBA had previously found that the team violated them," Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz, the law firm that investigated the Clippers for the NBA, said in its report, released Wednesday, Sept. 2.
Clippers had similar deal for DeAndre Jordan
For those who have forgotten, that was in 2015. The NBA found the Clippers arranged an endorsement deal with a sponsor for DeAndre Jordan during his free agency recruitment, and the Clippers were fined $250,000.
And it gets better! At the time, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said "any circumvention was inadvertent."
"In our effort to support our players in every way possible," Ballmer said in 2015, "we as an organization must be diligent in complying with the CBA."
Five forfeited first-round draft picks and more than $30 million in fines later, here we are again. The Clippers running the same scam and shocked to wind up with the same outcome.
"I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. "The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations."
For some, cheating part of the game
It would be nice if sports teams, along with Fortune 500 companies and politicians, operated above board, any wrongdoings stemming from ignorance rather than intent. That, however, is woefully naïve.
From the second humans began competing against one another, they started looking for an edge. What began with efficiencies in mechanics and training and progressed to equipment hacks eventually – inevitably? – led to outright cheating. What’s the old saying? “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.”
But the Clippers, like so many others, were done in by their hubris. They thought they were being clever when they were the opposite. Their cover story was flimsier than cooked pasta, faking "introduction" emails to make it look as if they were responding to a request when they were really initiating it. They left paper trails, with details of the schemes included in emails and texts.
And now they’re trying to claim they’re the wronged party?
"We vehemently reject the NBA's findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence," the Clippers said in response to the NBA's punishment. "What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard Commissioner Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure its fairness and accuracy.
"For the past year, we cooperated fully and in good faith and we will now fight just as hard to demonstrate our innocence," the statement added. "We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process."
Good luck with that.
Clippers not first to play themselves
The Clippers are hardly the first people to be bad at crime. Remember Deflategate? One of the folks involved in that had nicknamed himself "The Deflator." The ringleader of Michigan’s sign-stealing caper, Connor Stalions, used his own name to buy tickets to opponents' games. New York Jets wide receiver Jeremy Kerley blamed his four-game suspension for PEDs on "ghosts."
Mob bosses, these folks are not.
Ballmer and two of his executives are in imposed timeouts lasting between six months and a year. If they don't use that time off to realize the error of their ways, at least come up with a better scheme.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
Feb 16, 2019; Charlotte, NC, USA; Team Lebron forward Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors (2) speaks during the NBA All-Star Media Day at Bojangles Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Kristian
The saga is finally over. My immediate reaction, like many jaded Raptors fans, was one fuelled by the feeling I had when watching Steve Ballmer laugh it up during the press conference announcing he had poached Kawhi Leonard from Toronto.
I felt vindicated, like justice had been served. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that Leonard would choose to come back to the Raptors. I’ve never faulted him for leaving. In another world, I’m a professional athlete, and I too am going home to play in front of friends and family.
All that matters now is that he gives us whatever is left in the tank. To have Leonard on the court in a Raptors uniform will have an immeasurable impact on Scottie Barnes. Leonard showed players like Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and OG Anunoby how to win. After witnessing Barnes ascend to a new level in the playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the next best thing for the phenom’s development is to play with a true superstar in Leonard.
Julian
I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet.
When I first heard the news that Kawhi Leonard was supposedly making his way home, I was concerned that the Aspiration Scandal would stick to him like white on rice, and for better or worse, that has indeed been the case. At the end of the press release came the phrase, “the league will consider further action as appropriate,” and all that says to me is that while Leonard has emerged from the fire relatively unscathed (for a millionaire, what’s $700,000?) this dumpster fire is not quite put out yet.
I’m of the opinion that from both a cultural and basketball standpoint, bringing Leonard aboard now is the right thing to do. One can only dither on the issue for so long. Kawhi seems to want to join the Raptors. The Raptors fans seem to want Kawhi. But, behind the scenes, information is abounding that the not public (and in some cases, nor the media) seems to have access to. Pablo Torre continues to break news about the situation, and until this case is officially deemed closed, I won’t be breathing easy.
Josiah
I was at university the one (glorious) season Kawhi played with the Raptors. More precisely, I was in my dorm room watching Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the 76ers, during finals week no less, with a paper due at 11:59 p.m. that evening. Kawhi hit the shot. I turned in the paper by email at exactly 11:59… but uploaded it to the course page at midnight, dropping the grade by ⅓ of a letter. Had the shot bounced on the rim fewer than four times, I’d have gotten the full A!
The NBA’s punishment certainly seems to fit the crime, with a cost to the Clippers that matches the precedent of the Joe Smith incident, with a lighter punishment for the player (and thus for Toronto). Los Angeles will appeal, certainly, but there’s no reclaiming championships not won (or close to won) in Kawhi’s tenure. The Raps, now, will get Kawhi back, and everyone will try to avoid thinking about what might have been in Toronto during the years Kawhi forsook the Raptors for the Clippers. This saga should finally end… with the NBA getting my paper grade revised upward.
Noah
I think yesterday’s ruling makes the Kawhi to Toronto situation really interesting. Personally, I’m relieved Kawhi wasn’t suspended or had his contract voided, because that would have completely changed how I viewed the trade. The Clippers being stripped of five first-round picks, a $30 million fine and a one-year suspension for Steve Ballmer shows how seriously the NBA viewed the situation.
Kawhi was fined $700,000 and said he had no knowledge of any salary-cap circumvention, while taking responsibility for lapses within his inner circle. I’m inclined to believe he wasn’t directly involved, but I understand why there are still questions surrounding his role.
With that said, I’m excited about the trade. There’s obviously risk given his age and injury history, but if he’s healthy, I think this is the type of swing Toronto needed. The Raptors have been rebuilding long enough, and bringing back a championship-winning Kawhi gives them a legitimate chance to compete.
Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard ponders his next move as he's guarded by Bucks center Brook Lopez in the first half Thursday night. Nba Milwaukee Bucks At Toronto Raptors | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co
Jean Patrick
The wait is finally over; Kawhi is officially a Raptor once again! Considering the buzz that was swirling around regarding the possible rulings, in my view, Kawhi emerges as the clear winner, with the Raptors management being a close second. Never mind the $700,000 fine; for a player who’s been the subject of polarizing views his entire career, Kawhi gets a chance to redeem the public perception of him and his basketball legacy. And what better way could he ask for than to reunite with the team he won with in 2019, which saw him elevate his status as one of the greatest basketball players of all time and, arguably, the best active player at that point in time?
The management, on the other hand, dodged a bullet by not rushing themselves into completing the deal, knowing that had the trade been done then, they would be dealing with the Clippers’ mess right now. Like Leonard, GM Bobby Webster needed this break, as some fans think that his regime as head of basketball operations, so far, has been unremarkable. Masai Ujiri was far from perfect and was said to have failed to build a winning squad with Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, and Scottie Barnes that could have opened another contention window. Unlike Masai, however, Bobby has yet to win a championship, which, in the eyes of analysts, makes Ujiri the more accomplished executive. For now, Webster’s discernment clearly paid off, as Toronto did not incur any repercussions.
Rebecca
I feel like Kawhi really got away with a slap on the wrist. As someone whose career earnings will surpass 400 million once he completes his current contract, the fine isn’t really much of a punishment. It’s less than 1% of his career earnings. Add that to his lack of suspension (thank goodness for the Raptors’ sake) and he’ll probably forget about the whole ordeal by the time the season starts.
The Clippers were not so lucky. I think their track record came into play here and with how competitive teams can be now with trying to lure talent, they wanted to make an example out of them to prevent things like this from happening in the future. The loss of the draft picks is going to be the thing that affects them the most. I really don’t see a path forward here for them to rebuild at any point in the future, so unless they can outright sign free agents, really the judgement they’ve received is to be a bottom dwelling team for the next decade…
