Commissioner Adam Silver made “tampering” the tentpole issue in the NBA this offseason, promising to tackle the pervasive problem and curb players, agents and/or teams from colluding outside the lawful boundaries of the collective bargaining agreement.

In recent weeks, the NBA announced harsher penalties for proven instances of tampering. Although there have yet to be a specific framework to understand the penal system of tampering, Silver expressed the ability of the league to take away draft picks and fine teams and players for working outside the system.

On Friday, the league sent a memo to teams with a greater understanding of the tampering guidelines. Per The Athletic's Shams Charania, two main features of the guidelines include deciphering comments from front office officials and finding tampering between players.

  • Conduct from player inducing another player to demand trade will be violative of tampering.
  • Isolated comments by team official praising another player will no longer be regarded as violation.

Charania also revealed that the NBA will NOT confiscate digital devices while investigating tampering, as was previously reported the league was mulling over. The NBA, however, is establishing an anonymous “hotline” for parties to report potential tampering.

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Tampering has been an issue for players deciding free agency destinations due to the uncertain moratorium period between the end of the calendar year and the next season, which has long been around June and July. This past summer, the NBA established June 30th at 6:00 p.m. EST as the “start” of free agency, with players, teams and agents allowed to begin speaking to another at that time.

In the past, players had already verbally “agreed” to deals with the teams prior to the start of free agency.

Even on the same day as the new tampering guidelines were released, however, new Brooklyn Nets center DeAndre Jordan told reporters at the team's media day that he decided to sign with the franchise via a FaceTime discussion with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant at “4 in the morning” the day of free agency.