Ramona Shelburne of ESPN is reporting that the Lakers, who have been fined for tampering twice in the past calendar year (links here), recently called an organizational meeting warning all employees about possible tampering ahead of the upcoming free agent signing period.
The Lakers, who are expected to play a key role during free agency this summer, also sent written notices to employees that referenced possible termination as punishment for anyone who does not adhere to NBA rules.
Per Shelburne, Lakers’ co-owner and governor Jeanie Buss called the meeting, which was led by president of basketball operations Magic Johnson who, somewhat ironically, was involved in both of the team’s prior tampering violations.
As our Hoops Rumors Glossary shows, the July Moratorium doesn’t allow free agent deals to become official until July 6. However, free agents are still permitted to negotiate with teams and agree to terms on new contracts during the moratorium. As such, the Lakers, as with the other 29 NBA franchises, aren’t allowed to begin negotiating with free agents until midnight on July 1.
The report 2 days ago that they were “unsure” if PG would sign with them seems very linked to this.
Magic to FO staff and media, “That’s right folks! Don’t want to get caught tampering when we go after LeBron, PG and Kawhi. So Make sure you don’t include names like LeBron, PG and Kawhi when talking about our plans to the media.”
They’re probably only doing that because the NBA warned them and Silvers office told them to talk to employees about it.