The Calgary Flames have reportedly signed forward Connor Zary to a three-year bridge contract with the club, worth $11.325 million, carrying an annual average value of $3.775 million. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
"Hearing Connor Zary and the Calgary Flames are closing in on a three-year extension at just under $3.8M," Friedman posted.
Zary, 23, is coming off a promising sophomore campaign in which he notched 13 goals and 27 points in 54 games before being sidelined with a lower-body injury late in the season. Over his 117 career NHL appearances, the skilled forward has recorded 27 goals and 61 points, showcasing consistent offensive upside and two-way reliability.
Originally selected 24th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native has quickly established himself as a key part of Calgary’s young core. His vision, hockey sense, and ability to contribute in all situations have made him a valuable piece of the Flames’ lineup.
The deal secures Zary through the 2027–28 NHL season.
Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong have already come up and contributed in the midst of a playoff push.
Next up? Brandon Sproat.
Sproat will join them this weekend to make his highly-anticipated debut during Sunday’s series finale against the Reds, the team trailing the Mets in the NL wild-card race.
Certainly a big challenge, but one the Mets are confident Sproat is up for.
“He earned it,” Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s another guy that had to work, had to fight to get to this point. It wasn’t easy for him early on this season, but his last few starts he’s been a completely different guy -- he was frustrated when he didn’t get the call, now here he is.
"You don’t want to put too much pressure on him -- just go out there and be yourself, but you have to give him a ton of credit and it’s another win for the scouting and development team, it’s going to be really fun to see.”
Sproat was widely-regarded as the organization’s top pitching prospect entering this season, but he quickly dropped behind both McLean and Tong on the depth chart as they soared through the system.
His early-season results also didn’t help, posting an ugly 6.69 ERA over his first nine outings.
After making some tweaks over the past few months, though, the 24-year-old has been able to rebound nicely and he’s pitched to a much-improved 3.19 ERA over his last 17 appearances.
His most recent outing was arguably his best during that stretch, as he struck out nine batters and walked just two over seven scoreless innings.
It's those signs of a front-line arm that president of baseball operations David Stearns says solidified the Mets’ decision to give him the call.
“We’ve seen it over the last two-two and a half months now,” Stearns said. “He’s carried his velocity consistently into games, his secondary offerings have picked up in consistency and crispiness, he’s throwing his changeup more which has helped.
“We’ve seen a number of really positive trends -- he is still a young pitcher, this is still his major-league debut, but we feel confident that he can come up and compete at the level, and we look forward to watching him take the mound on Sunday.”
While Mike Sullivan is an already established NHL coach, he has a lot to prove as he begins this new opportunity with the New York Rangers.
Through his ten years coaching the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team won two Stanley Cups, and Sullivan is credited with some of the praise, which is well-deserved.
However, Sullivan did have Sidney Crosby, who was in the prime of his career for a large part of Sullivan’s tenure in Pittsburgh.
Now, Sullivan will be without Crosby, and that brings some pressure on him.
Crosby brought both tremendous results on the ice and an element of leadership that helped build a strong culture with the Penguins.
It’s on Sullivan to establish a culture in New York for a Rangers organization that is in desperate need of an identity after a disastrous season.
Sullivan is out to prove he can build a Stanley Cup foundation without the likes of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.
When Sullivan arrived in Pittsburgh, the Penguins had already won a Stanley Cup just a few years before, much different compared to the Rangers, who haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1994.
This opening with the Blueshirts presents a challenge and opportunity for Sullivan to further establish himself as one of the greatest coaches of this generation.
Rooney is among the unrestricted free agents (UFAs) left at this juncture of the off-season, but he is now a step closer to changing that by landing this PTO with New Jersey. Now, he will be looking to impress at training camp to earn a contract for the season.
Rooney previously played for the Devils from 2016-17 to 2019-20. However, his time in New Jersey ended when he signed a two-year, $1.5 million contract with the Rangers during the 2020 NHL off-season.
Rooney posted 14 goals, 12 assists, 26 points, and 194 hits in 115 games over two seasons with the Rangers. His time with the Blueshirts ended during the 2022 NHL off-season when he signed a three-year deal with the Calgary Flames in free agency.
In 70 games this past season for the Flames, Rooney recorded five goals and 10 points.
There’s a wide divide in finances between Major League Baseball’s big-market and small-market teams.
As for the win column? Not so much.
The 2025 season has produced a surprising show of parity through the first five months of the regular season. While most of the league’s big spenders — teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and New York Mets — are in good position to make the playoffs and do damage in October, they haven’t been as dominant as many expected.
In fact, there’s a good chance that this will be the second season in a row no MLB franchise will top 100 wins. The only team with a realistic shot is the Milwaukee Brewers, who rank 23rd in the league with a $112 million payroll. They’ll have to go 14-7 over their final 21 games to hit 100.
The last time there were no 100-game winners in back-to-back seasons was a three-year stretch from 2012 to 2014.
With three weeks and roughly 20 games remaining for most teams, here are some things to watch as the regular season winds down:
Playoff races
Their might be no truly dominant teams this season, but there’s also a pretty clear picture of the 12 teams that could make the postseason bracket — six in the National League and six in the American League.
In the AL, the Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros have a more than 95% chance to make the playoffs, according to ESPN’s projections. A sixth team — the Seattle Mariners — sit at a roughly 75% chance.
There are still several teams with hope, including the Texas Rangers (12.8%), Kansas City Royals (10.0%), Tampa Bay Rays (9.6%) and Cleveland Guardians (2.8%).
The NL race has an even bigger gap between the top six teams and the rest of the league. The Brewers, Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres all have odds of at least 95% to play in October.
Among the longshots: The San Francisco Giants (4.7%), Cincinnati Reds (2.4%), Arizona Diamondbacks (1.2%) and St. Louis Cardinals (0.8%).
The top two teams in the NL and AL don’t have to play in the best-of-three wild card round, instead advancing directly to the best-of-five division series. Right now, those teams would be Tigers and Blue Jays in the AL, and the Brewers and Phillies in the NL.
The D-backs could be one of the league’s more intriguing teams in September, even if they don’t make the postseason. They were sellers at the July 30 trade deadline after a disappointing first four months, but are 19-12 since that point, staying on the fringe of contention.
Arizona could end up affecting the playoff race even if it probably won’t make it to October. The D-backs play games against the Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, Giants and Padres over the final three weeks.
“We’re in the hunt,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “I keep saying that all I want to do is play meaningful games in September. That’s our intent. We just have to keep our head down and believe we can still do this.
“The guys are showing they feel the same exact way, so keep digging.”
Awards races
Here’s the status of some of the major MLB awards races. All odds according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
AL MVP: This is an epic two-horse race between Yankees slugger Aaron Judge (-235) and Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (+155). Judge has had an excellent all-around season while Raleigh’s 51 homers are the most in MLB history for a player who is primarily a catcher.
NL MVP: Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani (-1200) is a fairly big favorite at this point, but Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber (+600) and Mets outfielder Juan Soto (+5000) are still in the mix.
AL Cy Young: Detroit lefty Tarik Skubal (-1600) is a big favorite to take home his second straight AL Cy Young award. Among the challengers: Boston lefty Garrett Crochet (+650).
NL Cy Young: Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes (-10000) is the overwhelming favorite to win his first NL Cy Young.
Manager shakeup?
There have already been four managers fired this season, with the Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles all making moves. The Angels have had an interim manager for much of the year because of health issues for Ron Washington.
Depending on what happens the next three weeks, there could be a lot more job openings.
Skippers like Atlanta’s Brian Snitker and Texas’ Bruce Bochy, who is now 70, could retire after the season. Other like Arizona’s Lovullo and Minnesota’s Rocco Baldelli have had disappointing seasons.
Even playoff qualifiers might not be immune. The Yankees’ Aaron Boone is among a handful of managers not just expected to play in October, but to have a deep run. An early exit could spell trouble.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone questioned the legality of a bat during their game against the Houston Astros. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone questioned the legality of a bat used by Houston Astros outfielder Taylor Trammell during Thursday's series finale.
Down by five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Houston mounted a comeback by starting off the inning with a single by catcher Victor Caratini and a double off the wall by Trammell. After the at-bat, Boone asked the umpires to check the bat used by the 27-year-old because of its "discoloration."
Rule 3.02(c) by Major League Baseball bans the usage of a "colored bat in a professional game" unless approved by the league.
The crew chief, Adrian Johnson, took the bat and called a review to verify the legality of the discoloration on barrel.
After the review, the bat was confiscated by the umpires, authenticated and sent to the league office to be inspected, according to Astros manager Joe Espada.
"The bat was worn down a little bit," Espada said. "He uses that bat all the time and I guess they thought it was an illegal bat.
"I thought it was … whatever," he added.
Boone said they noticed the color of the bat earlier in the series and brought it up to the league officials on Thursday.
"You're not allowed to do anything to your bat," Boone said after the game. "I'm not saying he was … we noticed it and the league thought it maybe it was illegal too."
After the game, the outfielder remained confused.
"I feel kind of defensive right now, more so a test of my character, like I'm going to willingly do that," Trammell said. "Just kind of lost on that thing, and if anyone knows me, knows I'm never going to cheat or anything like that."
Trammell, who played a couple of games for the Yankees last season, stayed on second base. The Astros later scored a run on a single by designated hitter Yordan Alvarez but the Yankees held on to win the game 8-4.
The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, but the organization’s developmental model has not yielded enough results.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 40 NHL games.
Richard was the Sabres sixth-round pick at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal who opened some eyes last year at the club’s development camp. A native of Jacksonville, FL, the 6’1”, 194 lb. winger played his youth hockey in Florida and a year with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks, where he scored 48 points (18 goals, 30 assists) before being selected 170th overall.
The following season, Richard split time between the Lumberjacks and Tri-City and increased his goal total to 31 and compiled 62 points in 57 games. As a freshman at Connecticut, he finished fourth on the club with 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists). Last season, the 20-year-old finished second in team scoring in his sophomore campaign, averaging over a point per game (15 goals, 28 assists) in 34 games, and at the club’s 2025 development camp once again showed his scoring prowess.
If Richard has another good year with the Huskies, the Sabres should try to coax the young forward out of college with a professional contract offer, before he gets ideas of becoming an unrestricted free agent after his senior season in 2027.
Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo
The Montreal Canadiens traded Carey Price and a 2026 fifth-round draft pick to the San Jose Sharks on Friday.
The Canadiens received defenseman Gannon Laroque in return.
Price, 38, last played five games in the 2021-22 season for the Canadiens. The goaltender hasn't played since due to injury.
The Sharks take on the final year of Price's contract, which carries a $10.5-million cap hit but just a $2-million base salary. They still have more than $9.2 million in cap space.
Montreal, meanwhile, has about $4.57 million in cap space. They can accrue that space instead of putting Price on the long-term injured reserve, which means they could make a bigger move at the trade deadline next March.
Laroque, 22, is in the third year of his entry-level contract. In 2023-24, he played nine games with ECHL Wichita, recording two assists there, and nine games with AHL San Jose, where he had a goal and an assist. The Sharks drafted him 103rd overall in 2021. He didn't play last season due to injury.
Price's Time With The Canadiens
Price set franchise highs during his 15 seasons playing for the Canadiens, which selected him fifth overall in the 2005 NHL draft.
His 712 games played and 700 starts are the most among all goaltenders in the Canadiens' 107 NHL seasons. Hockey Hall of Famer and six-time Stanley Cup champion Jacques Plante is second, with 556 games and starts.
Like Plante, Price is a Hart Trophy winner, receiving the most votes in the 2014-15 season, when he also captured the Ted Lindsay Award, Vezina Trophy and William M. Jennings Trophy. Price had a 44-16-6 record with a 1.96 goals-against average, .933 save percentage and nine shutouts that season.
Price also recorded the most wins by a goaltender in Habs history, with 361, 47 more than Plante. His 49 shutouts are in third place.
Price had at least 30 wins in a season five times, at least a .910 save percentage nine times and a goals-against average lower than 2.50 seven times.
Overall, Price, a member of Ulkatcho First Nation in British Columbia, had a 361-261-79 record, 2.51 GAA and .917 SP with the Canadiens in the regular season.
In the playoffs, Price went 43-45 in 92 games with a 2.39 GAA, .919 SP and eight shutouts. He's third in franchise history in playoff games played, fourth in playoff wins and fifth in save percentage among Habs netminders who played at least 10 playoff games.
The furthest Price got in the playoffs was in 2020-21. He backstopped the Habs to a comeback seven-game series win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, a sweep over the Winnipeg Jets and a six-game win over the Vegas Golden Knights in the semifinal.
The Canadiens won the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the first time ever, considering that trophy usually goes to the Western Conference champions. It went to them due to temporary divisional realignment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the final, Montreal faced the defending-champion Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts won the first three games before Price stopped 32 shots to cut the series deficit to 3-1. Tampa Bay won the Cup in Game 5.
That was Price's last playoff game with the Canadiens and almost certainly his NHL career. He missed most of the 2021-22 season due to a torn meniscus injury before playing five games in April 2022, winning one of them.
He hasn't officially retired since he's still under contract, but there appear to be no plans of playing again in hockey's top league for the father of three children.
Correction: Laroque last played in 2023-24, not 2024-25.
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There are big-name players whose contracts will expire following the 2025-26 season. Arguably, none are bigger than Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and Minnesota Wild left winger Kirill Kaprizov.
Even though the two forwards are in separate divisions and don't share the same agents, they could affect the outcome of each other’s new contracts, for better or worse.
McDavid and Kaprizov have been eligible to sign new deals since July 1 but haven’t yet. However, whoever signs their contract extension first will likely set the table for the other star player.
McDavid, 28, already has 1,082 points in 712 regular-season games and 150 points in 96 playoff games. He's won the Art Ross Trophy five times, the Ted Lindsay Award four times, the Hart Trophy three times, the 'Rocket' Richard Trophy once and the Conn Smythe Trophy once. After back-to-back Stanley Cup final losses, he's focused on winning it all multiple times.
Kaprizov, 28, has 386 points in 319 NHL games, and in only 25 playoff games, he's put up 21 points.
It’s no surprise that both of these players will receive groundbreaking contracts and could set financial records in the NHL. But what remains unclear is how much these players will earn.
The current bar for the highest-paid NHL player by season is McDavid’s Oilers teammate, Leon Draisaitl, whose new deal carries a $14-million cap hit. There’s a great possibility that McDavid and Kaprizov will exceed that number, especially with the rising salary cap in consideration.
McDavid is considered the best player in the sport by some margin. With that, he’ll likely be paid as such, unless he takes a page out of Sidney Crosby’s book and accepts a lower-than-expected cap hit for the team.
Nonetheless, with Draisaitl’s $14-million cap hit to reach, McDavid will likely surpass that by a few million, possibly a range of $16 million to $18 million.
But what if Kaprizov and the Wild come to terms for a contract that pays him $15.5 million or $16 million per season? That could force the range for McDavid’s contract to go even higher, just out of respect for him being the best player in the NHL.
Furthermore, Wild owner Craig Leipold said an agreement between the team and Kaprizov is “not that far off,” according to The Athletic.
In addition, this situation goes both ways. McDavid could be the one to restrict Kaprizov’s contract if GM Stan Bowman and the Oilers put pen to paper quicker than the Wild and GM Bill Guerin.
If Edmonton’s captain were to take a relatively team-friendly deal, between $14 million and $16 million, that would likely force Kaprizov to cash in a lower cap hit than his camp might’ve planned initially.
Of course, there are other factors that go into each player's situation, and one player signing first won't be the only basis for the next player's contract.
Kaprizov's agent, Paul Theofanous, has also secured some massive contracts for other star players, such as Artemi Panarin's $$1,642,857 average annual value with the New York Rangers and Sergei Bobrovsky's $10-million cap hit with the Florida Panthers. McDavid signing a team-friendly contract doesn't mean Kaprizov will as well (and vice-versa), but it could make it more difficult.
As for other pending UFAs, such as the Winnipeg Jets' Kyle Connor, Vegas Golden Knights' Jack Eichel, Colorado Avalanche's Martin Necas and Rangers' Panarin, if their camps have any concerns about teams using McDavid's next deal as a comparable, they may want to set the bar themselves.
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Prior to Friday's game, Judge had been strictly serving as a DH due to the flexor strain in his right elbow that caused him to miss nearly two weeks shortly after the All-Star break. It will be the first time Judge is in the outfield since July 26.
With Judge back in right field (and batting third), Giancarlo Stanton assumes his position as the DH and is hitting fifth.
Due to his own fielding deficiencies, Stanton had been the odd-man out many times while Judge was the DH, as New York would only play Stanton in the outfield during home games due to the smaller dimensions of right field at Yankee Stadium. On the road, Stanton would mainly only come in for pinch-hitting assignments, which was a big blow for the Yankees' offense.
Now with both players in the lineup and at their ideal positions, New York is at full strength as it aims to commandeer first place for the division from the Blue Jays, who are 3.0 games in front entering play on Friday.
Hopefully a return to DH for Stanton will break him out of his recent slump in which he has just one hit (a home run) in his last 21 at-bats.
Meanwhile, Judge has been on a tear offensively lately after enduring a slump of his own over the last month.
Chicago's stumbling point is simple: Just more than a year ago, the Bulls gave an unproven Patrick Williams a five-year, $90 million contract ($18 million a season), based on his potential (the front office really believes in him). So what is a proven scorer and shot creator like Josh Giddey worth to them?
About $22 million a year, ESPN’s Bobby Marks reports. He said Chicago has an offer of four years, $88 million is on the table for Giddey — not that much more than Williams and well below the closer to $30 million a season Giddey is reportedly looking to make. That $88 million number is up slightly but largely in line with previous reporting of the Bulls offering around $20 million a season for the 6'8" point guard.
Giddey has yet to accept the Bulls' offer, with an Oct. 1 deadline looming in the distance for him to pick up the one-year, $11.1 million qualifying offer, play out this season in Chicago, and become a free agent next summer (the path Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas has already taken).
Giddey believes he should be paid in the Derrick White and Tyler Herro range of around $30 million a season. His case is based on how he played after the All-Star break last season, when he averaged 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists a game for a Bulls team that went 17-10 in that stretch. The Bulls may not be as convinced by that stretch of play, and in the bigger picture, they are trying to clean up their books and gain flexibility. While Giddey knows how to run their offense, he is not a great defender and needs to show his hot shooting from 3-point range after the All-Star break last season (45.7%) was not a fluke (he is a career 33% shooter from deep).
The other question Giddey and his representatives need to ask themselves: Will the money he wants be available next summer? While there are expected to be up to 10 NBA teams with considerable cap space, are they going to want to spend a lot of that on Giddey? His perception in league circles is that of a good player but not a contending team franchise cornerstone, more of an 82-game player than a 16-game player. If Giddey were to take the qualifying offer, he would have a season to prove his doubters wrong with his play.
Most likely, both Giddey and the Bulls will compromise as we get closer to training camp. Neither side wants to go the qualifying offer route, but the Bulls have all the leverage in these talks while Giddey just has the one card to play. The closer we get to Oct. 1 without a deal, the more realistic that option becomes.
The only two goalies that ranked ahead of Shesterkin on this list are Andrei Vasilevskiy and Connor Hellebuyck.
This past season, Shesterkin signed an eight-year, $92 million contract extension with the New York Rangers, making him the highest-paid goalie in NHL history.
At the pinnacle of Shesterkin’s career, he won the Vezina and was a Hart Trophy finalist for League MVP in 2022.
On top of that, Shesterkin has helped lead the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final twice through his tenure as the team’s starting goalie.
During the 2024-25 campaign, the 29-year-old goalie recorded a 27-29-5 record, 2.86 goals against average, and .905 save percentage.
The goalies ranked behind Shesterkin on this list include Sergei Bobrovsky, Jake Oettinger, Ilya Sorokin, Jordan Binnington, Filip Gustavsson, Darcy Kuemper, and Linus Ullmark.
The Los Angeles Clippers take on the Denver Nuggets in an NBA playoff game in April at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
More details are emerging about a company that allegedly paid Clippers star Kawhi Leonard millions, including that the team came close in 2021 to granting naming rights for its Inglewood arena to Aspiration Partners.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer nearly granted naming rights to the company, but ended up choosing financial services firm Intuit to grace the $2-billion venue, a source familiar with the matter said. Intuit, which has a $186-billion net worth and developed TurboTax, Credit Karma and QuickBooks, ended up paying a reported $500 million over 23 years for the naming rights. The source requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Four years later, Aspiration, a sustainability firm that also generated and sold carbon credits, is out of business. Co-founder Joseph Sanberg has agreed to plead guilty to defrauding multiple investors and lenders. Listed among creditors in Aspiration's bankruptcy documents is Leonard, raising questions about whether his $28-million endorsement deal with the company skirted NBA salary cap rules.
One of the investors Sanberg defrauded was Ballmer, listed by Fortune magazine as the sixth-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $157 billion. The Clippers owner invested $50 million in Aspiration, which in turn entered into a $330-million sponsorship agreement with the team.
This week, the Athletic reported allegations that Aspiration agreed to pay Leonard $28 million for a job with no responsibilities. Anonymous sources quoted by the outlet said the payment was an effort to circumvent the NBA salary cap.
Ballmer was interviewed Thursday night by ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and denied involvement in Leonard's deal with Aspiration, but the NBA has launched an investigation.
Ballmer said he was "conned" by the company and that the Clippers did not circumvent NBA salary cap rules, which the team was accused of doing in a podcast report by Pablo Torre of the Athletic.
A plane flies over the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Ballmer told Shelburne that Aspiration offered more than Intuit for dome naming rights, and a Clippers spokesman confirmed that account. However, Ballmer insisted that the Clippers did not violate NBA rules against skirting the salary cap, and the team had agreed to a contract extension with Leonard and the sponsorship deal with Aspiration before the player and the company met.
"We were done with Kawhi, we were done with Aspiration," Ballmer said. "The deals were all locked and loaded. Then, they did request to be introduced to Kawhi, and under the rules, we can introduce our sponsors to our athletes. We just can't be involved."
The Clippers signed Leonard to a four-year, $176-million contract in August 2021 even though he was recovering from a partially torn ACL in his right knee that kept him sidelined the entire 2021-22 season. Ballmer said the sponsorship deal with Aspiration was completed in September 2021 and that the Clippers introduced Leonard to Aspiration two months later.
"As part of our cooperation with the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission, we produced texts and emails," Ballmer said. "It was part of the document production in their investigation. We even found the email that made the first introduction [between Aspiration and Leonard]. It was early in November.
"Where could any of this circumvention happened? It couldn’t have, it didn’t. The introduction got made and they were off to the races on their own. We weren’t involved."
The Boston Sports Journal reported that Leonard did not appear in promotional material as other endorsers did because Aspiration executives "saw no brand synergy with Leonard and chose not to use his services. They instead preferred to partner with climate-focused influencers."
Ballmer couldn't explain why Leonard did no marketing or endorsement work for Aspiration, telling Shelburne that he never spoke with the player about his deal with the company.
"I don’t know why they did what they did and I don’t know how different it is, I really don’t," he said. "And, frankly, any speculation would be crazy. These were guys who committed fraud. Look, they conned me. I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up and they conned me. At this stage, I have no ability to predict why they did anything they did."
The salary cap is a dollar amount that limits what teams can spend on player payroll. The purpose of the cap is to ensure parity, preventing the wealthiest teams from outspending smaller markets to acquire the best players.
Circumventing the cap by paying a player outside of his contract is strictly prohibited. Teams that exceed the cap must pay luxury tax penalties that grow increasingly severe. Revenues from the tax penalties are then distributed in part to smaller-market teams and in part to teams that do not exceed the salary cap.
The NBA said it will investigate the allegations laid out by Torre. Ballmer said he welcomes the probe. If allegations were made against a team other than the Clippers, "I’d want the league to investigate, to take it seriously," he said.
"We know the rules, and if anything is not clear, we remind ourselves what the rules are. And we make it absolutely clear we will abide by those rules."
The cap was implemented before the 1984-85 season at a mere $3.6 million. Ten years later, it was $15.9 million, and 10 years after that it had risen to $43.9 million. By the 2014-15 season it was $63.1 million.
The biggest spike came before the 2016-2017 season when it jumped to $94 million because of an influx of revenue from a new nine-year, $24-billion media rights deal with ESPN and TNT.
Salary cap rules negotiated between the NBA and the players’ union are spelled out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Proven incidents of teams circumventing the cap are few, with a violation by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2000 serving as the most egregious.
The Timberwolves made a secret agreement with free agent and former No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Smith, signing him to a succession of below-market one-year deals in order to enable the team to go over the cap with a huge contract ahead of the 2001-02 season.
The NBA voided his contract, fined the Timberwolves $3.5 million, and stripped them of five first-round draft picks — two of which were later returned. Also, owner Glen Taylor and general manager Kevin McHale were suspended.
Then-NBA commissioner David Stern told the Minnesota Star Tribune at the time: “What was done here was a fraud of major proportions. There were no fewer than five undisclosed contracts tightly tucked away, in the hope that they would never see the light of day. … The magnitude of this offense was shocking.”
According to Article 13 of the CBA, if the Clippers were found to have circumvented the cap, it would be a first offense punishable by a $4.5-million fine, the loss of one first-round draft pick, and voiding of Leonard’s contract. However, the Clippers don’t have a first-round pick until 2027.
Veteran defenseman Mattias Ekholm was asked about his own contract situation on Friday, specifically if he's looking to re-sign with the Edmonton Oilers.
Understanding that Connor McDavid is getting the bulk of the attention, Ekholm is among a handful of pending UFAs on this Oilers roster that could be signed this summer or anytime during the season.
“Absolutely I want to stay in Edmonton, but I know you have to take care of the big boys first," said Ekholm. He added, "Once he (McDavid) gets done I’m sure we will talk."
Ekholm, 35, is in a slightly different situation than other UFAs on the Oilers. He's on the back nine of his NHL career and it might not be wise for the organization to commit long term. However, salary cap flexibility is paramount and one of the ways to keep his AAV down is by offering more term.
The Oilers have to ask themselves, at what point does Ekholm start not being worth the investment? He's aware that's a question that will need to be answered.
"I’m getting up there (age) but I know what I bring,” Ekholm said on entering the final year of his deal. The 2025-26 season is an important one, not just for the team but for the player. If he has a big year, signing him is just a matter of dollars and cents. If he doesn't, or he struggles to stay healthy, questions about what to offer him come into play.
When asked how he feels after his injury during the playoffs last season, he responded, "I feel great, I feel a lot better... It was tough just 'cause you're more out there to survive than creating something or playing your game." Ekholm played with a torn adductor muscle in final against the Florida Panthers. The injury severely limited his effectiveness.
