Wembanyama Locks In $252M in San Antonio While the Kawhi Trade Sits in Limbo
The Spurs secured their franchise centerpiece with a rookie max extension, while the Clippers-Raptors deal to send Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto waits on an NBA investigation.
The NBA offseason's two biggest storylines are heading in opposite directions: one franchise cornerstone is locked in for years, while a blockbuster trade remains frozen.
Wembanyama stays, and leaves money on the table
Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs have agreed to a five-year, $252 million rookie max extension, according to ESPN. The deal includes a player option on the fifth year, and escalators could push its value to roughly $303 million, per Yahoo Sports.
The notable wrinkle: Yahoo Sports reports Wembanyama opted for the standard 25% rookie maximum rather than pursuing a 30% supermax structure — a choice that preserves cap flexibility for San Antonio to keep building around him. For a player widely seen as the face of the league's next decade, taking the smaller slice to help the roster is the kind of detail front offices across the league will notice.
The Kawhi deal that can't close
Meanwhile, the trade agreed in late June to send Kawhi Leonard from the Clippers back to the Toronto Raptors — the franchise he led to the 2019 title — is on hold, per NBA.com. The league is investigating allegations that the Clippers provided Leonard impermissible benefits around his 2019 free-agency signing, and the deal cannot be completed until that probe concludes, according to ESPN.
The Clippers have denied wrongdoing, saying they did not funnel money to Leonard, per ESPN. What's confirmed: the trade agreement exists, and it is paused. What isn't: when the investigation ends, or whether its findings could affect the deal itself.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo already moved to Miami and Jaylen Brown swapped to Philadelphia for Paul George in earlier offseason deals, per Yahoo Sports' tracker, the Kawhi resolution is the last domino of a wild NBA summer.