As we relayed on Saturday, the NBA issued a league-wide memo to inform all 30 teams of potential changes to the league’s anti-tampering policies. The NBA has proposed increasing the maximum allowable fines for tampering violations and requiring team owners to submit proof that no tampering occurred when they sign new players.
With the NBA’s Board of Governors set to vote on the new rules this coming Friday, September 20, ESPN’s Zach Lowe shares a few more details on what exactly the league is proposing. As Lowe notes, not all of these rules will necessarily be approved, but the Board of Governors will consider them.
- A requirement that a team reports within 24 hours any instance of a player or his representative asking the team for “unauthorized benefits” (ie. a benefit that is not permitted under the league’s CBA).
- Prohibiting players from inducing players already under contract to request trades.
- A requirement that teams preserve all communications with players and agents for one year.
- Introducing new channels for team employees to anonymously report tampering or rules violations.
The first two items on this list seem directly related to Kawhi Leonard‘s recent free agency. There were whispers in July that Leonard’s camp made requests that fell outside the purview of the CBA, and we know that he had a hand in encouraging Paul George to request a trade with the Clippers.
We’ll have to wait until Friday to see exactly what the league’s new anti-tampering policies look like, but it appears that players and teams hoping to get a head start on free agency will have to be more careful than ever going forward.