The NBA’s growth has been unstoppable, outshining MLB and the NFL while expanding its global reach, especially in Europe and China. With basketball now second only to soccer worldwide, revenue has soared, the average NBA team is valued at $4.66 billion, with the Warriors topping at $9.4 billion. Even small-market teams are thriving, as seen in the 2025 NBA Finals, where the Thunder and Pacers drew 16.4 million viewers in Game 7, the most since 2019. But with the Clippers-Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention saga unfolding, could this small-market momentum now be at risk?

The controversy exploded after Pablo Torre revealed leaked documents linking Kawhi Leonard, Steve Ballmer, and the Clippers to an alleged $28M salary cap circumvention scheme. Reports suggest Kawhi’s $176M 2021 extension may have been secretly sweetened by a $28M Aspiration marketing deal, partly funded by Ballmer, paying him $7M annually with zero promotional obligations. A former Aspiration employee even claimed the Clippers directly arranged the deal and if proven, the NBA could void parts of Kawhi’s contract. With fines up to $7.5M, suspensions, and unlimited draft pick losses on the line, behind the scenes, it’s pure chaos.

Pablo Torre summed it up perfectly on ESPN LA when he said, “Look, I am told that there has been a level of panic over there… the team that is most frustrated by the ways in which this class of owners throws their wealth around… typically is the Oklahoma City Thunder.” And honestly, it makes perfect sense. Torre reminded everyone that OKC isn’t just any team in this Kawhi situation that they’re “not merely the champions of the last NBA season, but the champions who won their championship because of the deal where Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. That’s how they got Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That’s how they got a bunch of those picks, right?”

Back in 2019, the Clippers went all-in to build a contender around Kawhi Leonard, convincing Paul George to force a trade out of Oklahoma City after Leonard pitched him on teaming up in L.A. To make it happen, the Clippers sent OKC a massive haul: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, four unprotected first-round picks, one protected pick, and two future pick swaps. At the time, this was billed as “the Paul George trade,” and Shai wasn’t even considered the headliner. For the Clippers, it was about creating a superteam; for OKC, it meant entering yet another rebuild after losing an All-Star alongside Russell Westbrook.

Fast forward to today, and the irony couldn’t be more striking. That very trade shaped OKC’s entire future  and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has now become the face of their success. Last season, the 26-year-old delivered one of the most dominant guard seasons in NBA history, averaging 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals. He led OKC to a 68-14 record and their first title since 1977, while becoming the NBA MVP, Finals MVP, and scoring champion joining legends like Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players to achieve that in the same season. And now, he’s locked in with a four-year, $285 million supermax extension, making him the highest-paid player in NBA history at $71.3M per season.

So when you connect the dots, Torre’s point hits even harder. The Kawhi and Paul George deal didn’t just hand OKC its championship core it also exposed a much bigger issue. This Clippers controversy isn’t only about L.A. and OKC; it’s about the growing tension between small-market teams that build patiently and wealthy franchises that flex financial muscle to chase titles.

Steve Ballmer’s spending power has small-market teams on edge

Pablo Torre summed up the frustration of the small market teams perfectly saying, “So typically historically what I am told is that the team, the small market team that is most frustrated by the fact that you can have these again, uber wealthy — this is like a new generation of just owners by the way right you got to be so rich to own a team now and Ballmer is the richest by far and the team that is most frustrated by the ways in which this class of owners throws their wealth around right?” And he’s not wrong. With billionaires like Steve Ballmer changing the game, small-market teams constantly feel the squeeze trying to compete financially with the NBA’s richest franchises.

Here’s why. According to Forbes, the average NBA team operates in a market of about 2.5 million TV households, but small-market teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder (737k), Memphis Grizzlies (673k), New Orleans Pelicans (672k), and Milwaukee Bucks (932k) are working with less than half that reach. These markets represent the NBA’s smallest media footprints, forcing teams to be smarter about how they build rosters and allocate resources in a league driven by revenue. That’s where the NBA’s revenue-sharing system comes in—all teams pool their annual revenue, and funds are redistributed from high-grossing franchises to low-grossing ones, ensuring every team gets at least an amount equal to the salary cap.

Speaking of caps, the NBA salary cap for 2025–26 has been set at $154.647M per team, a 10% jump from last season’s $140.588M. But projections for 2026–27 show it rising to $165M, lower than the $170M many expected after the NBA’s record-breaking $77B media-rights deal. And that $5M shortfall matters — it directly impacts luxury tax and apron thresholds that big spenders use in their budgeting. For 2026–27, the estimated luxury tax level is $200M, with the first apron at $209M and the second apron at $222M. For small-market teams already operating on thinner margins, every dollar counts when trying to compete with deep-pocketed owners like Ballmer.

And yet, here’s the twist—small-market teams are winning this “money game” in their own way. Over the last 25 years, small-market franchises have captured 6 NBA championships, matching large-market teams despite their disadvantages. In the regular season, they’ve averaged 42 wins per season, better than mid-markets (39 wins) and large markets (40 wins). On top of that, small-market teams post an average Wins Over Payroll Expectation (WOPE) of +2.24, meaning they outperform spending-based expectations by two wins per season. For comparison, large-market teams average -0.91 WOPE, showing less efficiency despite bigger budgets.

The 2025 NBA Finals proved this perfectly, with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers—both small-market teams—pulling 16.4 million viewers in Game 7, the highest since 2019. So, for OKC and teams like them, it’s more than frustration — it’s about fighting to stay competitive in a league where money, influence, and power can quietly change everything.