India, Sept. 3 -- The Los Angeles Clippers have been handed one of the NBA's most severe penalties after the league found the franchise guilty of circumventing salary-cap rules in connection with Kawhi Leonard. The NBA announced on Wednesday that the Clippers were fined $30 million, while Leonard was ordered to pay $700,000. The league also suspended owner Steve Ballmer and two senior executives as part of the punishment following a year-long investigation into sponsorship deals linked to Leonard.

As part of the sweeping sanctions, the Clippers were stripped of five first-round draft picks, making the penalty one of the largest ever imposed on an NBA franchise. The investigation focused on whether the team used sponsorship arrangements t...