Clippers' Updated NBA Draft Picks After Forfeiting 5 1st-Rounders in Kawhi-Ballmer Probe

The Los Angeles Clippers' future draft capital took a major hit after the team was penalized by the NBA for violating the salary cap circumvention rules in the league's collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday.

The Clippers will forfeit five first-round picks in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033. They currently own the Toronto Raptors' first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 as part of the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard back to his former team on June 30.

The trade with Toronto was put on hold while the NBA's investigation was conducted.

The probe found a "pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization," per Wednesday's announcement.

In addition to the forfeiture of five first-round picks, the Clippers were fined $30 million while team governor Steve Ballmer was suspended from all league and team activities for one year.

Lawrence Frank, Los Angeles' president of basketball operations, was suspended without pay for six months while Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended without pay for one year due to their involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements.

The organization is also subject to a five-year compliance and monitoring program that will be overseen by the league office.

"The NBA's collectively bargained system for determining player compensation is a fundamental component of the basketball competition that the league oversees for the benefit of the teams and players and ultimately the fans," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said as part of the announcement. "I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers' institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct. The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations."

As the Clippers look to build around Darius Garland and incoming rookie Keaton Wagler moving forward, their arsenal of first-round picks has been depleted.