WOJ: NBA investigating possible tampering: Update Bulls forfeit 2nd Round Pick pg. 31

[OldSchoolNoBull]

The NBA is getting paid billions of dollars by ESPN, who in turn put Woj on their FA show every year where he announces deals a minute after FA ends, and then they're going to act like they don't know exactly what's going on and what the Bulls and Heat did here is some egregious wrongdoing?

The reality is that Woj has nearly single-handedly changed the way free agency(and the trade deadline) is not only covered, but conducted(due to his, and later Shams, ability to instantly make information public to millions of people), and the league has been slow to adapt, looking at the whole tampering issue like it's 2005.

[weneeda2guard]

Every team does this or else they won’t have a chance to sign the player they want. If teams actually play by the rules they are screwed.

Exactly how the world does the league think all of these deals are made and announced the 1st few hours of free agency. If the league steps any further into this they will kill free agency frenzy which disturbs great marketing for the league.

[DuckIII]

It sure appears teams did not learn anything after what happened with Bogdanovic last year, and that was literally stopped from even happening. Maybe Silver will actually be harsher here. He probably should. It really is absurd how quickly some of these deals are announced.

The NBA absolutely LOVES how quickly the deals are announced. Their television partners and the network they own have free agency deadline shows which earn them all even more money and makes their television deals more lucrative.

[OldSchoolNoBull]

It sure appears teams did not learn anything after what happened with Bogdanovic last year, and that was literally stopped from even happening. Maybe Silver will actually be harsher here. He probably should. It really is absurd how quickly some of these deals are announced.

The NBA absolutely LOVES how quickly the deals are announced. Their television partners and the network they own have free agency deadline shows which earn them all even more money and makes their television deals more lucrative.

Which makes them giant hypocrites for punishing some teams for it.

[Leslie Forman]

It sure appears teams did not learn anything after what happened with Bogdanovic last year, and that was literally stopped from even happening. Maybe Silver will actually be harsher here. He probably should. It really is absurd how quickly some of these deals are announced.

The NBA absolutely LOVES how quickly the deals are announced. Their television partners and the network they own have free agency deadline shows which earn them all even more money and makes their television deals more lucrative.

That's not actually a good thing. It doesn't allow them to drag it out and create extended amounts of content out of it. In an era of eight hour Super Bowl pregame shows, every deal being announced in the first ten minutes is terrible media usage.

Constant free agent chatter generating attention all over TV and social media is much more useful.

[DuckIII]

It sure appears teams did not learn anything after what happened with Bogdanovic last year, and that was literally stopped from even happening. Maybe Silver will actually be harsher here. He probably should. It really is absurd how quickly some of these deals are announced.

The NBA absolutely LOVES how quickly the deals are announced. Their television partners and the network they own have free agency deadline shows which earn them all even more money and makes their television deals more lucrative.

That's not actually a good thing. It doesn't allow them to drag it out and create extended amounts of content out of it. In an era of eight hour Super Bowl pregame shows, every deal being announced in the first ten minutes is terrible media usage.

Constant free agent chatter generating attention all over TV and social media is much more useful.

They have both. It’s an excellent formula.

[DuckIII]

It sure appears teams did not learn anything after what happened with Bogdanovic last year, and that was literally stopped from even happening. Maybe Silver will actually be harsher here. He probably should. It really is absurd how quickly some of these deals are announced.

The NBA absolutely LOVES how quickly the deals are announced. Their television partners and the network they own have free agency deadline shows which earn them all even more money and makes their television deals more lucrative.

Which makes them giant hypocrites for punishing some teams for it.

Exactly my point.

[mack2354]

Bulls: Hey NO, if Lonzo wants to sign with us when Free Agency starts would you guys want to work out a trade so you don't lose him for nothing

NO: Sounds like a great idea! We have had our eyes on Sato for a while anyway.

Bulls: You are his FO, do you know how many years and money he's looking for?

NO: Not sure. He's our player, we'll ask him and get back to you.


Where is the tampering if all the communication was done with NO front office as the go between? Who is the victim? What was stopping other teams from doing the same? It seems perfectly reasonable to sign someone 2 minutes into Free Agency when all the details have been worked out indirectly weeks prior. We didn't need to tamper and talk to Lonzo if NO was on board which they obviously were. This seems silly.

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[Michael Jackson]

The NBA absolutely LOVES how quickly the deals are announced. Their television partners and the network they own have free agency deadline shows which earn them all even more money and makes their television deals more lucrative.

That's not actually a good thing. It doesn't allow them to drag it out and create extended amounts of content out of it. In an era of eight hour Super Bowl pregame shows, every deal being announced in the first ten minutes is terrible media usage.

Constant free agent chatter generating attention all over TV and social media is much more useful.

They have both. It’s an excellent formula.

Agree with Duck on this one. You need the big splash of frenzy for it to be an event that people are tuned into. The example of the Super Bowl is exactly that... and FA is the same you need the big event for people to watch 8 hours of coverage. The NBA has a couple of these events... The draft, Trade Deadline and Free Agency. The Lottery is a smaller event but falls in the same scope.

Free Agency has maybe become their biggest draw honestly since the Decision. They sometimes luck out with it going that way or even the way it did with Kawhi. Let's be honest this year there were no sexy names, the fact that Lowry and Ball are the two getting attention proves that. I don't have analytics on it but I get more text about FA from casual friends than I do any other event (well trades in general are spikes too) . The NBA has truly become more about the drama than it is the actual games and not having a big FA signing day that hurts their product.

[Michael Jackson]

Bulls: Hey NO, if Lonzo wants to sign with us when Free Agency starts would you guys want to work out a trade so you don't lose him for nothing

NO: Sounds like a great idea! We have had our eyes on Sato for a while anyway.

Bulls: You are his FO, do you know how many years and money he's looking for?

NO: Not sure. He's our player, we'll ask him and get back to you.


Where is the tampering if all the communication was done with NO front office as the go between? Who is the victim? What was stopping other teams from doing the same? It seems perfectly reasonable to sign someone 2 minutes into Free Agency when all the details have been worked out indirectly weeks prior. We didn't need to tamper and talk to Lonzo if NO was on board which they obviously were. This seems silly.

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There has to be proof with either Lowry or Ball that anything but this was done. Honestly, this really smells of Dolan throwing a fit. The NBA like the MLB choses strange places to flex its muscles though... Like the Joe Smith signing... WTF seriously and it was way too heavy handed and they had to rescind some of it. Even the Bucks and Bogdanovic was iffy but I think that might have been Bogie complaining more than the league because he didn't agree to the deal.

[Minalt]

The NBA absolutely LOVES how quickly the deals are announced. Their television partners and the network they own have free agency deadline shows which earn them all even more money and makes their television deals more lucrative.

Which makes them giant hypocrites for punishing some teams for it.

Exactly my point.

This is a great discussion... NBA is essentially punishing teams for something they WANT to happen. The offseason for NFL and NBA have become huge the last few years. I think a majority of that is due to the "F5 season" mindset that has begun in the last decade.

I definitely understand that the league does not want tampering to impact small market's ability to compete in the league. My understanding of this rule is to avoid players like Giannis, Zion, etc... from being influenced by other teams while under contract. Is working on a deal with a legitimate free agents ahead of schedule really impacting that? Especially when it ultimately ended in a sign & trade that left both teams happy?

[Michael Jackson]

Which makes them giant hypocrites for punishing some teams for it.

Exactly my point.

This is a great discussion... NBA is essentially punishing teams for something they WANT to happen. The offseason for NFL and NBA have become huge the last few years. I think a majority of that is due to the "F5 season" mindset that has begun in the last decade.

I definitely understand that the league does not want tampering to impact small market's ability to compete in the league. My understanding of this rule is to avoid players like Giannis, Zion, etc... from being influenced by other teams while under contract. Is working on a deal with a legitimate free agents ahead of schedule really impacting that? Especially when it ultimately ended in a sign & trade that left both teams happy?

This is absolutely some gamesmanship by the NBA. I can think it may be Dolan complaining too etc... they have to placate someone somewhere. This Free Agency frenzy though is absolutely what the NBA wants ratings wise no doubt about that.

[Leslie Forman]

Which makes them giant hypocrites for punishing some teams for it.

They'll punish anyone if it's blatant enough and they're able to. They just did it to the Bucks and Kings last year. They might do it to Miami this year. The notion that the league somehow has it out for just the Bulls is absurd.

Everyone here is whining about LeBron, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules. Players can do as they please. Teams cannot. I mean, LeBron himself has always played by the rules and taken meetings first at the start of free agency. Even if it was just for appearances, he at least did it. Cases like Bogdan, Lonzo, maybe Lowry (I feel like he actually took longer?) - these are fundamentally different and are clearly tampering.

Agree with Duck on this one. You need the big splash of frenzy for it to be an event that people are tuned into. The example of the Super Bowl is exactly that... and FA is the same you need the big event for people to watch 8 hours of coverage. The NBA has a couple of these events... The draft, Trade Deadline and Free Agency. The Lottery is a smaller event but falls in the same scope.

It sounds like it makes sense on the surface at first, like something someone selling you shady nutritional supplements would say. But just like what the Herbalife guy tells you, it's not even close to true.

Look at what the biggest, most content producing free agency events have been. LeBron meeting with everyone and us all hearing about the pitches, generating ungodly amounts of content. The KD saga. The long Summer of Kawhi where we kept hearing crazier and crazier things.

The notion that the NBA actually wants free agency to essentially be over in 10 minutes is ridiculous.

[OldSchoolNoBull]

Which makes them giant hypocrites for punishing some teams for it.

They'll punish anyone if it's blatant enough and they're able to. They just did it to the Bucks and Kings last year. They might do it to Miami this year. The notion that the league somehow has it out for just the Bulls is absurd.

Everyone here is whining about LeBron, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules. Players can do as they please. Teams cannot. I mean, LeBron himself has always played by the rules and taken meetings first at the start of free agency. Even if it was just for appearances, he at least did it. Cases like Bogdan, Lonzo, maybe Lowry (I feel like he actually took longer?) - these are fundamentally different and are clearly tampering.

I don't think the league has it out just for the Bulls. I think they arbitrarily punish some teams(not just us) and not others.

[DuckIII]

Which makes them giant hypocrites for punishing some teams for it.

They'll punish anyone if it's blatant enough and they're able to. They just did it to the Bucks and Kings last year. They might do it to Miami this year. The notion that the league somehow has it out for just the Bulls is absurd.

Everyone here is whining about LeBron, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules. Players can do as they please. Teams cannot. I mean, LeBron himself has always played by the rules and taken meetings first at the start of free agency. Even if it was just for appearances, he at least did it. Cases like Bogdan, Lonzo, maybe Lowry (I feel like he actually took longer?) - these are fundamentally different and are clearly tampering.

Agree with Duck on this one. You need the big splash of frenzy for it to be an event that people are tuned into. The example of the Super Bowl is exactly that... and FA is the same you need the big event for people to watch 8 hours of coverage. The NBA has a couple of these events... The draft, Trade Deadline and Free Agency. The Lottery is a smaller event but falls in the same scope.

It sounds like it makes sense on the surface at first, like something someone selling you shady nutritional supplements would say. But just like what the Herbalife guy tells you, it's not even close to true.

Look at what the biggest, most content producing free agency events have been. LeBron meeting with everyone and us all hearing about the pitches, generating ungodly amounts of content. The KD saga. The long Summer of Kawhi where we kept hearing crazier and crazier things.

The notion that the NBA actually wants free agency to essentially be over in 10 minutes is ridiculous.

Straw man. No one said the NBA wants it to be all over in 10 minutes. Point is they have both and they love it. If they didn’t they and their network partners would not cover it the way they do.

[dougthonus]

Everyone here is whining about LeBron, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules. Players can do as they please. Teams cannot.

This is not true. Players can't attempt to induce players to come to their team legally. What everyone (including myself) believes LeBron has done repeatedly is absolutely against the rules. The difference is the league can't audit player communication nor can it stop player communication via its rules meaning they effectively have no meaningful way to enforce the player side of it, but it is still against the rules for players to do this.

The problem with all of this tampering stuff is that it is just idiocy. They don't punish people for things that matter and only punish people for things that don't. This includes Bucks/Kings last year or Draymond Green commenting that Booker should leave the Suns as part of an on topic TV commentary and not punishing LeBron for convincing AD to demand out of NOP and agree to only be traded to the Lakers.

It's generally comes down to a matter of proof / evidence collection and whether the Bulls are punished here or not, the idiocy of punishing teams for talking to guys whom are impending FAs is just silly when we know it happens everywhere / all the time.

And while I agree absolutely with your point that the NBA doesn't want FA to end in 10 minutes, they absolutely want it to get off with a bang with things they can announce right away.

[Michael Jackson]

Which makes them giant hypocrites for punishing some teams for it.

They'll punish anyone if it's blatant enough and they're able to. They just did it to the Bucks and Kings last year. They might do it to Miami this year. The notion that the league somehow has it out for just the Bulls is absurd.

Everyone here is whining about LeBron, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules. Players can do as they please. Teams cannot. I mean, LeBron himself has always played by the rules and taken meetings first at the start of free agency. Even if it was just for appearances, he at least did it. Cases like Bogdan, Lonzo, maybe Lowry (I feel like he actually took longer?) - these are fundamentally different and are clearly tampering.

Agree with Duck on this one. You need the big splash of frenzy for it to be an event that people are tuned into. The example of the Super Bowl is exactly that... and FA is the same you need the big event for people to watch 8 hours of coverage. The NBA has a couple of these events... The draft, Trade Deadline and Free Agency. The Lottery is a smaller event but falls in the same scope.

It sounds like it makes sense on the surface at first, like something someone selling you shady nutritional supplements would say. But just like what the Herbalife guy tells you, it's not even close to true.

Look at what the biggest, most content producing free agency events have been. LeBron meeting with everyone and us all hearing about the pitches, generating ungodly amounts of content. The KD saga. The long Summer of Kawhi where we kept hearing crazier and crazier things.

The notion that the NBA actually wants free agency to essentially be over in 10 minutes is ridiculous.

I did mention those outliers but those are special cases and you know it. Those were goldmines. Hell I think Lowe and Ringer were doing midnight update podcasts during Kawhi gate. The problem is that can’t be replicated unless it is a super huge name. The one thing they can do is have an apex moment year after year… I agree that having it hit headlines for months on end would be ideal but it just isn’t possible.

[DuckIII]

Which makes them giant hypocrites for punishing some teams for it.

They'll punish anyone if it's blatant enough and they're able to. They just did it to the Bucks and Kings last year. They might do it to Miami this year. The notion that the league somehow has it out for just the Bulls is absurd.

Everyone here is whining about LeBron, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules. Players can do as they please. Teams cannot. I mean, LeBron himself has always played by the rules and taken meetings first at the start of free agency. Even if it was just for appearances, he at least did it. Cases like Bogdan, Lonzo, maybe Lowry (I feel like he actually took longer?) - these are fundamentally different and are clearly tampering.

I don't think the league has it out just for the Bulls. I think they arbitrarily punish some teams(not just us) and not others.

Not even so much that it’s arbitrary. More like low hanging fruit. Ball and Lowry were announced basically immediately. So they are investigating those. In fact, I read somewhere that the exact specifics of the Lowry deal reached the press 2 days before free agency even opened.

[Grodoboldo]

Guys, someone probably complained.
AK needs to find out who that is and throw them a real blanket party.

Watch on YouTube

[DuckIII]

Everyone here is whining about LeBron, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules. Players can do as they please. Teams cannot.

This is not true. Players can't attempt to induce players to come to their team legally. What LeBron has done is absolutely against the rules. The difference is the league can't audit player communication nor can it stop player communication via its rules meaning they effectively have no meaningful way to enforce the player side of it, but it is still against the rules for players to do this.

And it’s been reported that Russ and LeBron actually had a sit down prior to free agency to discuss him coming to LA. But as you note, the NBA won’t be doing anything about that even though, if proved, it’s tampering.

Edit: AD was in the meeting too. Here’s an article:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbssports.com/nba/news/russell-westbrook-met-with-lebron-james-anthony-davis-weeks-ago-to-discuss-playing-for-lakers-per-report/amp/