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The NBA has found no evidence showing LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Kawhi Leonard in order to circumvent the salary cap, according to three people with knowledge of discussions between the two sides in recent days. Instead, the NBA is focused on whether the team's introduction of Leonard to team sponsors constitutes a violation of the league's rules prohibiting salary cap circumvention, two of the sources said. The league is examining whether the Clippers are guilty of "failure to supervise" employees, though it's unclear what specific rule the team would have violated or what the penalties would be, two of the sources said. The 11-month investigation into salary cap circumvention allegations expanded beyond Leonard's deal with Aspiration, the now-defunct green banking company at the center of the allegations, to at least three other companies that also had deals with the Clippers, two of the sources familiar with the talks told ESPN. However, sources said, the league has presented no evidence that Ballmer funneled money to Leonard. The league presented initial findings of its investigation, led by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to the Clippers in late July, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. In recent days, both sides have been negotiating a resolution to the investigation, the people said. Those talks -- led by attorney David N. Kelley of law firm O'Melveny & Myers for Ballmer and the Clippers, and NBA general counsel Rick Buchanan -- at times have been "spirited," one source said. NBA spokesman Mike Bass did not respond to multiple requests for comment last week and Monday, including an email Friday that detailed ESPN's findings. In a statement posted to X Monday, Bass said, "ESPN's article regarding the LA Clippers investigation -- for which the NBA declined to cooperate -- contains numerous and significant inaccuracies. The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded." A spokesperson for the Clippers declined to answer questions about the nature or content of the NBA's initial findings or the ongoing discussions. But in a statement provided to ESPN, the Clippers said the team "introduced players, including Kawhi Leonard, to companies with which we had business relationships. Making introductions between players and team partners is both an ordinary practice by NBA teams and a common request of players and representatives." The statement also said the team did not "negotiate or dictate" the terms of Leonard's endorsement deals. "The fact that a player has an endorsement relationship with a company that also does business with his team is not evidence of salary-cap circumvention," according to the statement. The NBA's investigation began after a September 2025 report from podcaster Pablo Torre that cited internal documents showing Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration, through his personal LLC in September 2021. That month, the Clippers also signed a $300 million deal with Aspiration, making the company the "first founding partner" of the Intuit Dome. Then, in April 2022, Aspiration signed a $28 million endorsement deal with Leonard. An unnamed employee who purportedly worked for the banking company told Torre that Leonard's sponsorship deal "was to circumvent the salary cap," and the report characterized the contract as a "no-show" job. Ballmer made an additional $10 million investment in Aspiration on March 9, 2023. The league's investigation examined deals with companies including Daktronics and Boingo Wireless, a wireless provider for the Intuit Dome, sources familiar with the inquiry said. Earlier this month, Torre reported that Leonard had a previously undisclosed sponsorship agreement allegedly worth millions of dollars with Daktronics, the South Dakota-based company that designed the Clippers' videoboard inside the Intuit Dome. But like Aspiration, there's no evidence that Ballmer funneled money through those companies, and in the recent discussions, the league has focused on those companies only in the context of the Clippers introducing them to Leonard and his representatives, sources said. A spokesperson for Boingo did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Daktronics has declined to comment on anything related to Leonard or the Clippers. Over the past 11 months, the Clippers and Ballmer have maintained that they had no involvement in Leonard's deal with Aspiration and have denied allegations they broke league rules. The day after Torre's report, Ballmer told ESPN that Aspiration asked to be introduced to Leonard, and that the team made the introduction in November 2021. He said he "eventually learned they had reached a deal" and denied he directed the company to strike one. "Salary cap circumvention rules are important to the league, and I'd want the league to investigate," Ballmer told ESPN at the time. Shortly after the allegations arose, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said it's up to the NBA to prove wrongdoing during its investigation. "I would be reluctant to act if there was sort of a mere appearance of impropriety. ... I think that the goal of a full investigation is to find out if there really was impropriety," he said. Ballmer has insisted repeatedly in conversations with confidants that he will not accept a league result that asserts he or the team intended to circumvent the salary cap and would instead bring the matter to arbitration, according to multiple sources with knowledge of his thinking. However, the conversations between Kelley and Buchanan are ongoing, and it's unclear what NBA punishment Ballmer or the team might be willing to accept or if they choose to fight findings through arbitration. A finding of salary cap circumvention would constitute a violation of the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. As such, all parties -- including the Clippers and the union -- must agree on the findings and on any discipline. ESPN reported last month that sources close to the NBPA said the union wouldn't hesitate to take the matter to arbitration if the NBA sought penalties without sufficient evidence. Two sources familiar with the NBPA's thinking and the arbitration process said an argument that a sponsor introduction counts as salary cap circumvention likely would not survive. One of the sources said, "That's dead on arrival." Early in the recent negotiations between the NBA and the Clippers, lawyers for the league raised a decades-old salary cap circumvention case as a template for punishment, according to two sources with knowledge of the discussions. The NBA penalized the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2000 by taking five first-round draft picks and fining the team $3.5 million after the team signed an illegal secret agreement with forward Joe Smith that promised him a multiyear, multimillion-dollar extension. (The team's 2003 and 2005 draft picks were eventually restored.) The physical evidence of the under-the-table agreement helped establish one of the strongest penalties ever imposed for any NBA franchise or player, and it led to Smith's contract being voided, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor being suspended and vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale taking a forced leave of absence. One league insider with direct knowledge of league business said a salary cap circumvention penalty based on player introductions is "an outrageous overreach" and that "it's the job of players' agents to ask for introductions to sponsors and potential endorsers." The person also said that if the league punishes the Clippers for introducing a player to a team sponsor, it "will be felt across the league -- and players and their management won't stand for it." Introductions between team sponsors and players are common around the NBA, according to owners and other league executives who have spoken to ESPN. They're also something that the league itself has encouraged. In a slide from a 2024-25 deck for teams regarding the "business of basketball," obtained by ESPN, the league lists "best practices" for "successful strategies shared by teams from previous seasons." "Identify what players are talking about or commenting on around the facility," the first point reads. "For example: if players have noticed a new sponsor on the court or on their jersey but aren't familiar with what the company does, you might consider facilitating a dialogue with an executive from that company to talk about their business and their relationship with the team." Another slide regarding ideas for player initiatives suggests: "Bring in a member of a team partner (either a corporate sponsor or community organization) to discuss the impact that player appearances have in their organization." The NBA operations manual for 2021-22, when the Clippers and Leonard reached their deals with Aspiration, states that team representatives can't recommend a player to a team sponsor as a candidate for an endorsement arrangement. The team can, however, provide a sponsor with player contact information. "If teams are approached by business partners or other third parties regarding a potential business relationship with a player," the rule states, according to a copy of the manual obtained by ESPN, "teams should respond solely by providing the third party with contact information for the player and/or his agent." Ballmer told ESPN in September 2025 that his team "found the email that makes the first introduction." "The introduction got made and then they were off to the races on, on their own. We weren't involved," he said. "I eventually learned that they had reached a deal. I have no idea what the deal was." The Clippers agreed on June 30 to trade Leonard to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and draft picks. But the deal is on hold after the Raptors learned they would be taking on the risk for any penalties that Leonard might face -- such as a possible suspension or his contract being voided -- as a result of the investigation. Leonard and his agent and business attorney, Harrison Gaines, have had conversations with the players' union over the past few weeks, and there has been no indication that Leonard will face a voided contract, according to a source with direct knowledge of the talks. Leonard and the Raptors are both operating as though the trade will be completed and reunite him with Toronto, according to team sources. Two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said Leonard has maintained to the NBPA, league and Wachtell Lipton that he had no involvement in salary cap circumvention, and so far conversations around potential consequences have centered on him paying restitution for potential improper benefits from the Clippers, such as travel and lodging, for his representative and uncle Dennis Robertson. If the case goes to arbitration, the arbitrator could compel document production, witness testimony and order discovery. After a hearing, the arbitrator's ruling would be subject to an appeals panel made up of three people jointly appointed by the NBA and NBPA. The appeals panel decision is binding. Only after that process could Silver be authorized to issue any potential punishment. It's unclear how long a potential resolution to the investigation might take, particularly if the matter ends up in arbitration. In July, Silver said he wanted a resolution before the start of the 2026-27 regular season. Aspiration ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 2025. The company's co-founder, Joe Sanberg, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud for his role in a scheme that prosecutors said defrauded investors out of $248 million. In June, he was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. In April, Ballmer's attorney wrote a letter to the judge sentencing Sanberg, in which he said Ballmer was "flagrantly defrauded" by Sanberg and lost his entire $60 million investment in Aspiration. According to the letter, Ballmer also commissioned an internal review of the Clippers organization and directed team employees and employees of his charitable organization to cooperate with the NBA investigation. ESPN's Shams Charania and Bobby Marks contributed to this report.