The words everyone was hoping to hear and NBA commissioner Adam Silver is doubtless eager to say remain unspoken. 

At the NBA board of governors meeting Tuesday in Las Vegas, there was no meaningful update on the ongoing Kawhi Leonard saga. The investigation is not over, which is holding up a trade between the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers.

“My timeline remains this summer,” said Silver when asked if and when he was expecting a resolution to the question of whether the Clippers engaged in salary-cap circumvention when signing Leonard to a new contract extension in 2023 and to what degree Leonard was complicit if any did take place.

“We all have an interest in wrapping this up and I’m hopeful this will wrap up this summer.”

So sometime before training camp starts in late September, then?

There had been some faint hope that the league’s meetings, which provided Silver his first scheduled public forum since he last discussed the issue at the NBA Finals back on June 3, would act as natural deadline to resolve the now 10-month investigation. It was launched after podcaster Pablo Torre did a series of episodes reporting that the Clippers allegedly had directed $28 million to companies affiliated with Leonard over and above the three-year, $149.5-million deal he signed in 2024 via a fake sponsorship agreement.

As it has dragged on, frustration on all sides is beginning to mount. 

“My understanding is (the law firm hired by the league to do the investigation) is now in the process of going through the information they’ve gathered and drawing conclusions from it,” said........

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