Some NBA players have made more money than Kawhi Leonard, but no player has cost their team as much.
Since signing Leonard before the 2019-20 season, the Los Angeles Clippers have sacrificed draft picks, salary, luxury tax and alleged illegal payments in order to have Leonard, and Wednesday’s severe punishment only adds to the price tag.
Acquiring Kawhi Leonard was already expensive for L.A. Clippers
To try Leonard away from the Toronto Raptors in free agency, Leonard demanded that the team pair him with another star. That’s why the Clippers traded five first-round picks and one pick swap to get Paul George in the summer of 2019, a deal that also included Danilo Gallinari and future two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. One of those picks turned into All-NBA forward Jalen Williams, who won a title alongside SGA in 2025.
The Clippers immediately became one of the NBA’s most expensive teams. They paid George $196M over five seasons ($123.6M more than SGA earned) and gave Leonard $293.8M over his seven seasons. As a result of the high payroll, the Clippers paid nearly $400M in luxury tax on top of their already-high payrolls.
But that wasn’t all they were spending. According to the Clippers investigative report the Clippers spent at least $22M in “consulting fees” to compensate companies that gave Leonard endorsement deals. They also allegedly agreed to overpay Daktronics for its scoreboard work and pay Aspiration $7M per year to cover their deal with Leonard, in the guise of environmental services the Forum in Los Angeles, owned by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.
Kawhi Leonard investigation cost L.A. Clippers even more
As a result of the NBA’s findings, the Clippers received a $30M fine and had to forfeit five first-round picks, running their total Leonard draft bill to 10 first-rounders and one swap, though they did get two firsts back from the Raptors in this year’s Leonard trade. That fine especially stings because Ballmer had to pay for the investigation itself, one the Clippers claim cost $50M.
Adding Leonard has likely cost Ballmer and the Clippers over a billion dollars in total. In return, the team won a grand total of three playoff series in seven years, one of which happened with Leonard out with an injury. They didn’t just mortgage their future to get Leonard; they refinanced that mortgage and then burned down the future for the insurance money while not having an insurance policy.
Leonard is heading to the Hall of Fame after his career is over, but he’s still easily the most expensive — and most disastrous — free-agent signing of all time.