Kawhi back to Raptors is on hold. Plus: AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson put on a show
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It did not take long, with me sitting near John Hollinger in the Thomas & Mack Center at Las Vegas Summer League, for Atlanta Hawks and Arizona Wildcats legend Salim Stoudamire to become a topic of conversation. Summer league is so back.
Summer School
Dybantsa vs. Peterson was a lot of fun
No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa and No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson have been linked together for years. As the two best prospects in their class, they’re the guys people want to debate. And after they went 1-2 in the 2026 NBA Draft — with Dybantsa to the Wizards and Peterson to the Jazz — we get to keep having that debate. Luckily for us, they seem to love competing against each other.
The Summer Wizards and the Summer Jazz squared off in a primetime matchup in Las Vegas last night, and it was so fun to be in the arena for it. After watching Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. play each other in the previous game, the Dybantsa-Peterson saga continued in spectacular fashion.
They’ve squared off against each other a few times, and Dybantsa finally got the better of Peterson in a game, finishing with 27 points (7-of-18 shooting) and seven rebounds in the Wizards’ 92-88 win. Dybantsa also had this highlight dunk over Justin Harmon, finishing with two hands before flexing on everybody.
Peterson finished with 24 points, but was only 6-of-18 from the field and had eight turnovers and nine fouls (remember, you get 10 in summer league). We don’t need some grandiose speech about what these two players did and what it means. But I’ll unload my notes here:
- Dybantsa is determined to drive downhill. He got into the paint whenever he wanted.
- Peterson seems slower than I expected with that first step. But his body control is excellent.
- Dybantsa’s shot needs a lot of work. He pushes the ball forward instead of up with some arc. His jumpers keep missing short.
- Peterson’s floater is going to save him from a lot of issues in the middle of the floor. That’s going to be his bread and butter.
- I think I heard Hollinger use the phrase “the nightlife of Des Moines.” I just confirmed he did.
- The shoot-one-free-throw-for-two-points rule is fine for summer league, but we should riot if the NBA ever considers instituting it.
- Cody Williams looks pretty good! The No. 10 pick in the 2024 draft made some huge plays for the Jazz.
- Tre Johnson (26 points on 11-of-20 shooting), who was the No. 6 pick last year, really wants to show the Wizards he’s too good for this.
- Peterson and Jamir Watkins each had nine fouls. Jonas Aidoo had eight fouls. We nearly had three players total 30 fouls in one game.
- I don’t know if the Elton John impersonator or the Neil Diamond impersonator for their respective halftime shows was worse.
- Vegas summer league is a sacred institution.
The Last 24
👑 Podcast King? What’s the latest on LeBron James’ decision, and what’s the role of Rich Paul’s podcast? Our Joe Vardon has the latest.
🏀 Reclassified. Marcus Spears Jr. is a 17-year-old, five-star recruit who reclassified to join Texas this season. He won’t be draft eligible until 2028, though.
💰 Team values. Fred Katz has under-the-radar acquisitions so far this offseason. The non-huge names and moves to know.
🏀 The prototype. Atlanta is the “Hollywood of the South.” That’s why Angel Reese is a perfect fit there.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Please Hold
Raptors’ trade for Kawhi now in doubt
It feels about a week and a half ago when the LA Clippers agreed to trade Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors. It was supposed to be a cool reunion, after he left Toronto in 2019 following a one-season championship run with the team. And … we’re still waiting for that reunion to happen. There’s also a chance it doesn’t happen at all. Why?
The trade can’t be completed until the NBA’s investigation into the Clippers has concluded and the league has punished or absolved the organization. Remember that? If not: It’s alleged the Clippers circumvented the cap by paying Kawhi through a third-party, no-show sponsorship deal. That investigation started all the way back in September, so when will it be done? From our story on the investigation:
“We don’t have a specific timeline for the conclusion of the investigation but expect the firm to finalize its work in the coming weeks,” an NBA spokesperson told The Athletic on Thursday.
“In the coming weeks” is wonderfully vague and doesn’t provide any idea of when this will be over. But why do these teams have to wait for the investigation to be over? The reasoning is ridiculous, in one newsletter author’s opinion. According to the Raptors, Toronto could be in jeopardy for any potential league punishment involving Kawhi and LA:
“The NBA league office informed us that as a result of the ongoing investigation involving the Clippers, we would assume the risk of any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Kawhi,” the statement read.
Uh … what? Why would that be the case? Is this leaving open the possibility that Leonard could have the final year of his contract torn up if the NBA levies the most severe punishment against him? Does that make this likely? And if the Raptors traded for Leonard, why would they be punished for something they had nothing to do with? This isn’t buying a house you refuse to do an inspection on, and then you’ve inherited a dilapidated roof.
If this trade doesn’t happen, what does that mean for the Raptors’ relationship with Brandon Ingram? If this trade does happen, I guess we’ll know the severity of the punishment, and some may complain it’s a slap on the wrist? That’s if there’s a punishment at all. So many people assume the Clippers will be hit with something, but that could be really difficult to do without a smoking gun in the investigation.
My guess is Kawhi will be a Raptor “in the coming weeks.” But it’s no longer a certainty.
Market Cap
Which teams violate Brad Stevens’ decree?
The Boston Celtics won’t outright say that Jaylen Brown’s personality — especially after Brown felt disrespected by the trade rumors surrounding the team trying to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo — was a big factor in why he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers last week. Joe Mazzulla is trying to process it. Brown is admittedly still processing it. But everybody else around the league, from pundits to players, believes this was more than just a financial move by the Celtics.
However, the conversation about what a bad trade Boston made with Philly became a debate about whether Brad Stevens’ financial assessment is correct. He said it’s hard to contend when 70 percent of your salary cap is tied up in two high-usage players. In the era of the second apron, teams feel forced to spread out a lot more of that salary allocation to multiple players than multiple stars.
Let’s play around with this a little. There are seven teams projected to have two of their stars taking up at least 60 percent of the cap next season. (Although one of the teams has a twist.)
- Golden State (Steph Curry/Jimmy Butler): 72.4 percent of the cap.
- Boston (Jayson Tatum/Paul George): 68.2 percent.
- Denver (Nikola Jokić/Jamal Murray): 66.1 percent.
- *Cleveland (Donovan Mitchell/Evan Mobley): 65.9 percent.
- Washington (Anthony Davis/Trae Young): 65.4 percent.
- Miami (Giannis Antetokounmpo/Bam Adebayo): 65.3 percent.
- **Oklahoma City (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander/Chet Holmgren): 63.7 percent.
Full disclosure: I played around with Cleveland and OKC a bit. I went off the projected cap for the 2027-28 season, which could be $174 million. I did that because I included Mitchell’s extension plus Mobley’s salary that season. I did the same with OKC and SGA’s extension that kicks in next season.
Stevens recognized that Tatum and PG-13 will still be in the neighborhood of that 70 percent number he threw out, but the Celtics will have 1-3 years less on the books than if they kept Brown (and possibly gave him an extension). They want more cost-effective options for building their roster around Tatum.
Aside from Washington, the rest of these teams are proven winners. And the Wizards going all-in with AD and Young has given them belief they can win. Miami has a good track record of winning, as does Giannis. But we haven’t seen them together. The problem with the Warriors’ pairing is that Butler is recovering from ACL surgery. Unless they sign LeBron James, that could get ugly for most of next season.
The combination of Brown and Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia will be just under 60 percent of the cap, but remember, the 76ers also have Joel Embiid making $58 million,$62 million and $67 million the next three seasons. And there’s no way of getting off that contract.
The New York Knicks only have Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson around 51 percent of their cap for next season, thanks to the discount Brunson took. However, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges make a lot of money too. Those four take them well past the salary cap.
And remember me mentioning OKC for the following season above? Well, the Thunder also have Jalen Williams making the same as Chet. Those three will make up 85 percent of the Thunder’s cap in 2027-28.
Stevens is correct in that there is a very short window for how long you can have a situation like this in today’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Spending money isn’t an issue, but how you allocate it is. We’re already seeing teams blink at that. Boston has done this severely in consecutive offseasons. And for very little return.
Cutting and gutting are two very different things.