The Los Angeles Clippers got their punishment. The Toronto Raptors got their man. 

The Clippers have plenty of reason for regret, even shame. 

How the Raptors will eventually look at all of this in the coming seasons is a question that only time can answer. 

A year-long NBA investigation prompted by journalist Pablo Torre’s Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast series detailing a parade of phony endorsement deals between Kawhi Leonard and various Clippers business partners designed to line Leonard’s pockets over and above his on-court income came to a dramatic conclusion on Wednesday. 

Why, yes, it turns out the Clippers bent over backward to make sure that Leonard — at the steady urging of Dennis Robertson, the once and future Raptors star’s business manager and uncle — got paid a lot of money for doing nothing, this in addition to the hundreds of millions he earned for the 331 games (out of a possible 554) he played over his seven rocky seasons in Los Angeles. 

The Clippers are predictably aghast at the league’s findings — their lawyer went so far to call it a "witch hunt" — but a clear-eyed reading of the 35-page report prepared by the law firm hired by the NBA is both very entertaining (a Clippers executive texting another: “I cannot begin to tell you all the red flags with these deals. Just doing what I’m told at this point” is just one highlight) and conclusive: the Clippers cheated in order to circumvent the salary cap to Leonard’s benefit, full stop. 

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer can dig into his $150-billion fortune to sue the NBA as much as he likes, but it will be hard to discredit the findings that emboldened commissioner Adam Silver to delivering as stiff a penalty as the league can levy against a team and owner, short of forcing a sale of a franchise. The Clippers having to forfeit five first-round picks beginning in 2029 could cripple them for a decade, maybe more. 

That Leonard escapes all of this having to pay what amounts........

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