I was surprised there wasn't a topic about this here, but it appears the Los Angeles Clippers may have just got got circumnavigating the league's salary cap by giving Kawhi Leonard what amounts to a phony endorsement deal. If found to be true, the league could take extreme measures to penalize the Clippers. In the early 2000s, the Timberwolves were found doing this and were fined several million dollars, had their coach suspended for a year, had the contract of the player voided, and had to forfeit FIVE(!) first-round draft picks.

This is a topic that has come up several times in recruiting forums, where people question whether the NCAA, or now the clearing house, can limit or put guardrails on phony pay-for-play NIL deals, with others coming to rescue of the free market and saying the players are worth whatever people are willing to pay them, even if its not for a "real" cause. Often times the conversation has spiraled to professional leagues as many say no one can cap what professionals make in endorsements, while others have wondered aloud whether teams could simply promise a player a mega endorsement for coming to their team in lieu of an actual lucrative contract. 

My question is, if phony deals are able to be sniffed out in professional leagues and the involved parties subsequently punished, why wouldn't college sports be able to do the same? Is it just because the players can't collectively bargain? While I understand that argument, I'm not sure how it can prevent the league from having and enforcing rules on fair play - both on the field and in the realm of recruiting. Or, if college sports can't enforce these rules, why can professional leagues? If Kawhi takes the NBA to court for limiting his potential earnings, will the NBA fold just like the NCAA has on repeat? And if so, would we start to see the wild west in professional leagues as well? The whole situation seems crazy to me, and I'm interested to see what everyone else thinks.