Nearly a year after Pablo Torre’s reporting triggered an NBA investigation into Kawhi Leonard’s alleged $28 million Aspiration endorsement deal, the story has picked up another layer. A second, previously undisclosed multimillion-dollar arrangement involving Leonard has now surfaced, adding another question to a probe that has already lasted far longer than expected.

The NBA began its investigation in September 2025 after Torre’s original report, with outside law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz leading the probe. By July, The Athletic reported that investigators had expanded their work to include Leonard’s expenses and another previously unreported endorsement deal. Torre’s latest report appears to identify that second arrangement as one involving Daktronics, the company behind the Halo Board at Intuit Dome.

Jared Smith believes the bigger question may extend beyond Leonard and the Clippers. “I don’t know. I think the reason that the investigation has been delayed so much is because they keep finding new things and they have to investigate more,” Smith said. “Like, we thought it was just Aspiration, but apparently it’s not… right when they think they get to the center of the Tootsie Pop, there’s another lick.” He then added, “The better question, the more intriguing question that I have, this can’t be the only person and organization that’s doing this, right? If the Clippers figured it out, I’m sure there’s other teams that are trying or have tried to do something like this in the past.”

There is no public evidence that the NBA is investigating other teams over similar arrangements. The league’s work remains focused on Leonard and the Clippers, even as the scope of that investigation has grown beyond the original Aspiration deal.

Torre reported that the second arrangement involved Daktronics, the South Dakota-based LED and video-board manufacturer that designed and supplied the Halo Board at Intuit Dome. According to Torre’s reporting, Leonard served as a Clippers spokesperson for the company, despite there being no public marketing or other work by Leonard tied to the arrangement.

The exact value and terms of the Daktronics arrangement have not been independently confirmed. Torre’s sources described it as a multimillion-dollar sponsorship and alleged that the arrangement was openly viewed within the Clippers organization as a way to circumvent the salary cap. Daktronics, meanwhile, said through a crisis-PR firm, “My understanding is Daktronics doesn’t have a deal with Kawhi right now,” while declining to say more because of the NBA investigation.

The original Aspiration arrangement remains at the center of the NBA’s investigation. Ballmer invested roughly $50 million to $60 million in the company in September 2021, the same month the Clippers announced a 23-year, $300 million partnership that made Aspiration a founding partner of Intuit Dome. Leonard’s four-year, $28 million endorsement agreement with Aspiration was signed in April 2022, with payments beginning that June.

Under the NBA’s circumvention rules, legitimate outside endorsements are allowed, but the league can examine whether a third-party agreement was arranged by a team or owner, whether it was tied to a player remaining with the team, whether the player actually provided the promised services and whether the payments went well beyond their fair-market value. Those questions are at the heart of what makes the Leonard investigation so significant.

The Clippers and Ballmer have denied circumventing the salary cap or funneling money to Leonard through Aspiration. “Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration. Any contrary assertion is provably false,” the organization said. The Clippers have also pointed to Aspiration founder Joe Sanberg, who pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and was sentenced to 14 years in prison in June, arguing that they were victims of his fraud.

The NBA has not publicly confirmed the specific Daktronics arrangement as part of its investigation. But Adam Silver has repeatedly indicated that the probe is nearing its end, saying in July that it was “far along” and “close to the point now where I think we need to wrap this up.” He also acknowledged that the investigation had gone on “longer than I would have hoped.”

The investigation has already affected Leonard’s future. His proposed trade from the Clippers to Toronto remains on hold after the NBA informed the Raptors that they would assume the risk of any penalties tied to Leonard’s contract. With the probe now stretching beyond the original Aspiration arrangement, the question Smith raised remains just that: a question, but the second reported deal has given the investigation a much wider scope than it had when the NBA first opened it last September.