Was there ulterior motives behind the Kawhi Leonard trade?

The Los Angeles Clippers went from not wanting to trade Kawhi Leonard to suddenly sending him packing to his former team.

Of all the teams that could've traded for the former Finals MVP, the Toronto Raptors didn't seem to be in a position to compete for an NBA championship, even with him.

That's why it was kind of odd to see Leonard, known for being an extremely hard bargainer and someone who left Toronto after just one year, taking his talents back up North.

As sports journalist Pablo Torre just pointed out on social media, there's a twist involved in the reunion.

Something untoward involved in Kawhi Leonard, Raptors reunion?

Turns out that Raptors ' outgoing owner, Larry Tanenbaum, also happens to be chairman of the NBA's Board of Governors.

"It will be Tanenbaum, who has led the NBA BoG since 2017, who will have a front-row seat into the investigation into the Clippers owner being conducted by a New York law firm at the behest of NBA commissioner Adam Silver," Michael Grange reported in September 2025. "And it will be Tanenbaum who will presumably have a voice in what — if any — sanctions are levelled against Ballmer and the Clippers."

This is extremely relevant given the damning evidence against Leonard, the Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer.

Given past precedents of salary-cap circumvention, the Clippers could be stripped of multiple first-round picks, and Leonard's deal could be voided.

The fact that the Raptors won the Leonard sweepstakes reeks of an old-fashioned quid pro quo. Tanenbaum is well aware of the situation and the potential implications, and if he has a say in the punishment, one can only assume he won't hurt his former organization.

Meanwhile, Ballmer agrees to trade the face of the franchise in return for not losing valuable draft capital, while also getting some assets in return. 

Torre unveiled the paper trail linking Aspiration, Ballmer and Leonard's uncle, Dennis Robertson, to demonstrate, with little room for speculation, how the Clippers used the fraudulent company to pay Leonard for no-show endorsement deals and other perks prohibited by the league's CBA. 

All things considered, it's hard not to wonder if there weren't ulterior motives involved in the deal.