2025-26 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

It’s clear that Pablo’s source is Aspiration and an employee who has a gripe to grind with the CEO this cause them their job I’m taking it all down.

If I’m Steve. I’m Hollering. This cost me $50 million Dollars.

 

Show me the exact quote, and don't take it out of context with the other quotes I referenced above.

Exactly??? The hell he is with your "gossip" reach. What he actually said was that he is going to have that same pit bull legal firm from prior Clippers and Suns with Sarver cases THOROUGHLY investigate the situation and that HE has broader latitude in his decision that even in a civil case ("it's not a court of law") .... let alone a capitol case.

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/silver-broad-powers-punish-clippers-020548365.html

Excerpts:

Mostly, Silver sounded like a cautious, patient lawyer when speaking after the NBA's Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday.

"I'm a big believer in due process and fairness, and we need to now let the investigation run its course," Silver said.

When asked about possible punishments the Clippers could face if it is proven the franchise knowingly circumvented the salary cap, Silver sounded like a man who understands he has a hammer to bring down.

"My powers are very broad," Silver said. "Full range of financial penalties — draft picks, suspensions, et cetera. I have very broad powers in these situations."

However, sounded cautious about using that hammer. While the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) says a case for cap circumvention can be based on circumstantial evidence — which is all that is public right now, although there is a flood of it — Silver sounded like a lawyer who wants something more concrete.

"We and our investigators look at the totality of the evidence... "I would be reluctant to act if there was sort of a mere appearance of impropriety," (Slick's wrong interpretation about "circumstantial evidence) Silver said. "I think that the goal of a full investigation (with a detailed road map from Pablo) is to find out if there really was impropriety."

"The answer is we're not a court of law at the end of the day, either," Silver said. "We have broad authority to look at all information and to weigh it accordingly."

Silver said that his cautious approach has been echoed by the other owners he has spoken to on the matter.

"At least what's being said to me is a reservation of judgment," Silver said. "I think people recognize that that's what you have a league office for. That's what you have a commissioner for, someone who is independent of the teams... At least what those governors have said directly to me, to the extent we have had discussions, they've been limited."

 

Him pointing to not being a court of law is something I missed—he’s saying they don’t need smoking guns.

I still think slick and svtzr and Kobe are right that not much happens, but silver is aware he doesn’t need smoking guns. He may use that as a way to further legitimize his non-punishment, though…

 

I read this morning somewhere in that conversation with the press he made reference to a "smoking gun" being circumstantial in itself. He just needs the bull dog legal firm to tell him the preponderance of evidence ... paper trail, circumstantial and whatever says they were guilty. No one is going to force Ballz to sell, that's ridiculous but 2 or 3 first round picks, a BIG fine, maybe smack them in the face by taking away this year's All Star game (since that would be non stop discussed at that time) and whatever else would send a real clear message. Seems to me he has said in his other statements he has that power and DUTY if warranted.

 

i just don't think a fine does anything. he supposedly lost 60 million by being a d****** already!

i've come to believe the most appropriate fine is five years of the clippers' tax/cap threshold being approximately 7-10 million lower than everyone else's, as that's the advantage they gained from this contract. with the new cba making going over thresholds problematic for team building, i think this hits harder than fines or possibly even draft picks. maybe they get to keep their picks but can't trade them for 3 years or something.

 

Guess you were a devil’s advocate always in not subscribing to the old “if it looks, walks, quacks, smells, craps like a duck …. it’s a duck? Makes no sense to you? It’s one thing to place your bet nothing will happen to the Clippers over this but a whole other thing with your “possible” explanations of innocence for Ballz and Leonard ….. considering him having already done it once and the League penalizing them.