The NBA has finally made a ruling in the Jalen Brunson tampering investigation. The league announced Wednesday that the New York Knicks have been docked their own 2025 second-round pick for early discussions with Brunson.
From the NBA: “This outcome reflected a finding, following an investigation, that the Knicks engaged in free agency discussions involving Jalen Brunson prior to the date when such discussions were permitted.”
The Knicks stole Brunson away from the Dallas Mavericks on a four-year, $104 million contract in free agency. It was obvious at the time that tampering was occurring, with plenty of reporting before free agency suggesting Brunson was heading to New York. The Knicks also hired Brunson's dad, Rick, before free agency began.
Of course, given this penalty, it was all absolutely worth it, especially given the amount of draft capital in New York's war chest. Brunson has been a stud so far for the red-hot Knicks, who are on an eight-game winning streak to get to 18-13 on the season after a sluggish start. That's good for sixth in the Eastern Conference. The former Mavs guard is averaging 20.8 points and 6.2 assists while shooting 46.8% from the field and 37.4% from 3-point range.
A second-round pick has been the going rate for these tampering violations of late. The Milwaukee Bucks lost a second-round pick for Bogdan Bogdanovic tampering. The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat were recently docked second-rounders for their acquisitions of Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry, respectively. The Philadelphia 76ers lost a pair of second-round picks for the P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr. deals.
These punishments simply aren't a deterrent to tampering in the NBA. If the league actually wants to get serious about tampering, the penalties should be more punitive. But what they should really do is just not bother unless it's really egregious cases, like in-season tampering.
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