NBA Opens Tampering Investigation Into Knicks’ Signing of Jalen Brunson, per Report

It is the second league investigation into tampering this offseason.

The Knicks made an immediate splash in free agency earlier this summer when the franchise signed former Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson to a four-year, $104 million deal.

New York was linked to Brunson in the lead-up to free agency, with many around the league anticipating that he would end up with the Knicks once free agency opened.

Sure enough, Brunson signed in New York, and now the NBA has decided to open up a tampering investigation into the Knicks and their signing of Brunson, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo. The NBA is reviewing the transaction to see whether any contact between the Knicks and Brunson was made prior to the legal tampering period at the start of free agency.

The NBA’s tampering investigation is the second such case opened within the last week. The NBA is currently also reviewing a series of signings made by the 76ers involving James Harden, P.J. Tucker and Danuel House.

The league strengthened its stance against tampering in 2019, as decision makers aimed for harsher penalties against early contact made between free agents and prospective teams.

While it remains to be seen if either the Knicks or 76ers violated tampering rules for their free agent classes, it will be interesting to see what the penalties are if either franchise is found to be in violation with the rules within the league’s CBA.