Getty Jalen Brunson.
The New York Knicks may have landed their point guard of the future in Jalen Brunson, but it might have also come with a big cost.
On August 1, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported the NBA has opened up a tampering investigation in the whether or not the Knicks made contact with Brunson before the opening of free agency.
NBA will look into whether New York Knicks made contact with Jalen Brunson prior to the start of the free agency period.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Brunson was signing with the Knicks before free agency even opened, so New York could be in for a rough time. Even before that report came out, the writing seemed to be on the wall for the former Mavericks guard to join the Knicks.
Knicks Face Potential Fine
If the NBA finds the Knicks guilty of tampering, there could be a big fine coming down on them.
Last month, The Athletic’s Fred Katz reported people around the league expected New York to be punished for the signing.
“People I talk to around the league expect the Knicks to get dinged for tampering,” he wrote. “They started dumping salary for Brunson on draft night. They continued their offloading five days later, 48 hours before free agency even began.”
Tampering violations can be costly, and we’ve seen the impact it had in the most recent NBA draft. There were only 58 picks made in the June draft after the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat both had to forfeit a pick due to tampering.
There’s currently no indication about what the punishment will look like for the Knicks if they are found to be in violation, but it could be something in line with what happened to those two teams.
Knicks Aren’t Alone
NBA’s expected to pursue circumstances surrounding Harden declining $47M option to sign a 1+1 deal that cut salary to $33M and gave team more flexibility to sign Tucker and House. Some have wondered if another deal was already in place for future — which is against CBA rules.
While it seemed like a foregone conclusion the Knicks would be investigated, the NBA also announced they would be starting an investigation into the Philadelphia 76ers.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the league is looking into the James Harden pay cut and whether it was done because deals were already set up.
“NBA’s expected to pursue circumstances surrounding Harden declining $47M option to sign a 1+1 deal that cut salary to $33M and gave team more flexibility to sign Tucker and House,” he said. “Some have wondered if another deal was already in place for future — which is against CBA rules.”
This case looks a bit more difficult to prove than the Knicks, but the end result could end up being the same for both teams. The investigation could take a while to complete, and that’s when we’ll find out what the fines are for both teams if they are both found guilty.
Keep in mind that even if the teams are found guilty of tampering, the signings made won’t be voided, so Brunson will still be a Knick and P.J. Tucker and Danuel House will be Sixers.
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