Tampering, man. It’s the NBA’s worst-kept secret. In all honestly, everyone does it. Personally, I think it’s fine. But the NBA does not. It’s still against the rules.
That’s why we saw penalties handed down against the Milwaukee Bucks two seasons ago and investigations into the Bulls and Heat last season. Now, in this current offseason, we’ve got the Philadelphia 76ers who are now under the league’s microscope.
The NBA is investigating the 76ers signings from this offseason, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, including James Harden’s.
Despite the 76ers had already traded for Harden, the league is looking to see if the two sides already had an agreement on a contract in place heading into the offseason.
NBA's expected to pursue circumstances surrounding Harden declining $47M option to sign a 1+1 deal that cut salary to $33M and gave team more flexibility to sign Tucker and House. Some have wondered if another deal was already in place for future — which is against CBA rules.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 29, 2022
Harden’s pay cut gave the 76ers a ton of cap flexibility this offseason. It’s a big deal. But it might’ve come about by the team breaking the rules.
Let me explain.