The recent onslaught in free agency has caught the eyes of the NBA after seeing a record-breaking $3 billion doled out in contracts within the first few hours. Deals quickly lined up with one superstar followed by another, generating some apprehension when it comes to the quick succession of moves along with the suspicion of tampering violations.
According to ESPN's Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst, “the league opened an investigation centered on the timing of some of the earliest reported free-agency deals on June 30.” The investigation is expected to include interviews with players, agents and team employees with knowledge of how these deals came about:
The league has the power to punish teams it finds to be guilty of tampering ahead of June 30 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time — the first minute that teams are allowed to speak with representatives of free agents. It also might seek information on the timing of negotiations so that any revised free-agency calendar might better align with what is actually happening.
While there have been several owners irked at the nature of free-agency developments, it's difficult for a team to open a tamper investigation on its own unless it has some substantial basis for making an accusation, hence why the league chose to take this step on a broad end.
The investigation followed a tense meeting between owners, one which caused Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan, who spoke as the head of the labor committee, open up the potential need to revisit free-agency rules in the next collective bargaining agreement.
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