Jalen Brunson was one of the bigger names in free agency this season, leaving the Dallas Mavericks to sign with the New York Knicks. Brunson signed a 4-year deal worth more than $100 million with the Knicks, a massive sum for a player that has never made it to an All-Star team.
Brunson was reportedly going to meet with multiple teams during free agency, but eventually only met the Knicks. He ended up signing with the team too, with reports emerging about a deal being struck before free agency began. And this led to suspicions of tampering, with executives across the league speaking about it even when it happened.
Now, according to Yahoo Sports, the NBA will be investigating the Knicks for tampering in the deal that landed them Jalen Brunson.
“The NBA has begun an investigation into the New York Knicks for alleged tampering regarding free agent pickup Jalen Brunson, sources told Yahoo Sports.
“The league will look into whether the Knicks made contact with Brunson prior to the start of the free agency period.”
The Knicks have Rick Brunson, Jalen’s dad, as a part of their staff, which was expected to be a large reason why he joined the team. Furthermore, Knicks General manager Leon Rose was Jalen Brunson’s first agent and Rick Brunson was also his first client when he got into the business.
There are several reasons to believe that the Knicks had contact with Brunson before the start of free agency, but it remains to be seen if anything will come out of the league’s investigation.
There is no way to tell what the repercussions will be if the Knicks are found guilty of tampering. They could be fined some picks if that does happen, but it’s difficult to see how any tampering will be proved in this case considering the family ties. It remains an interesting development in the offseason.
