Everything Adam Silver Said About NBA's Kawhi Leonard Probe, Clippers Punishment, Expansion, More

NBA commissioner Adam Silver discussed a variety of topics surrounding the Association during a press conference following Tuesday's Board of Governors meeting.

Silver gave his thoughts on the league's penalties for the Los Angeles Clippers following an investigation into the team for violating salary cap circumvention rules regarding endorsement deals for Kawhi Leonard.

"The core responsibility of the league is to have a set of rules that everyone agrees to operate under, and the league's responsibility to enforce those rules, Silver said, per ESPN's Vincent Goodwill . "If those rules are found to be violated, there then will be appropriate consequences."

He explained why the NBA wanted to find balance in Los Angeles' penalties as well.

"That's in some ways the most difficult part of adjudicating these disputes because while there have to be competitive consequences, in our view, if these rules are by are violated, we still want to be a 30-team league, and we recognize that in some ways we're unfortunately punishing the fans of that team as well," Silver said, per Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Silver also confirmed that Clippers governor Steve Ballmer wasn't present at the Board of Governors meetings. Ballmer is suspended for one year following the league's investigation.

While the Clippers initially announced that they rejected the league's decision, they eventually complied with the punishments on Sunday.

"I appreciate that he has stood down, that he did apologize, and is accepting responsibility … our plan is to move forward, and we have every reason to believe … (he) will return to be an owner in good standing," Silver said about Ballmer, per Sportsnet's Michael Grange .

Silver also commented on the ongoing talks regarding renovations for the Portland Trail Blazers' Moda Center.

"We need a state-of-the-art arena," Silver said, via ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel . "The current building there is in the bottom measure of any arena in the league... It's my hope that we can lower the temperature in these negotiations."

Silver also revealed that the Board of Governors meeting covered expansion, although Las Vegas received more attention than Seattle due to questions about the location of a new arena.

"It's our goal to have decisions by the end of the year, and that continues to be our goal," Silver told reporters Tuesday.

He confirmed that the NBA visited Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle to study the venue's visibility while explaining that "it's a much longer timeline" to starting play in Las Vegas compared to Seattle, per Vorkunov .

ESPN's Shams Charania also reported that the NBA and Silver are in "deeper stages" of the expansion conversation.

"I'm told specifically for Las Vegas, the next round of bids for an expansion team in Las Vegas are due on Thursday and then final bids expected to be some point shortly thereafter," Charania said during a Tuesday appearance on NBA Today (0:20 mark). "My understanding is proposals for that Vegas team is reaching and potentially exceeding $10 billion. So far, the Vegas process has moved with more pace than Seattle. But those Seattle conversations are continuing as well."

On March 25, the Board of Governors approved a vote to formally explore bids and applicants for expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle.

Vorkunov previously reported that there was belief the league will select a governor for the Las Vegas organization before finalizing an agreement for Seattle.

Multiple bidders in Las Vegas have already submitted economic packages, according to David Aldridge and Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Meanwhile, Seattle's bid had centered on a single group headed by Samantha Holloway. Holloway is the owner of the NHL's Seattle Kraken.

As for the Trail Blazers, they were purchased by a group led by Tom Dundon at a valuation of $4.25 billion in March.

Dundon and the city of Portland have been in discussions surrounding funding for Moda Center renovations.

Jason Quick of The Athletic reported Aug. 15 that the framework for funding more than $586 million had been agreed to by the state of Oregon, the city of Portland and Multnomah County. However, the terms have not been agreed to with the city and county.

There is a Portland city council vote scheduled on Dec. 17.

If an agreement is reached, the Trail Blazers will be secured in Portland through the 2049-2050 season (via Quick). If both sides can't agree, the $365 million committed by the Oregon state legislature will expire on Dec. 31 and make the long-term location of the organization uncertain after the current lease expires in Oct. 2030.