League OKs stiffer penalties against tampering
The NBA’s board of governors on Friday was unanimous in its approval of a plan to stiffen potential penalties for tampering with players and employees under contract with other clubs, hoping for increased compliance in existing league rules.
Fines of up to $10 million now are possible in the most egregious situations, along with forfeiture of draft picks, suspensions of executives and voiding of contracts when rulebreaking is found — significant enough threats, the league hopes, to end any notion of teams entering into deals with free agents before rules allow.
“We need to ensure that we’re creating a culture of compliance in this league,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said after two days of meetings concluded in New York. “Our teams want to know that they’re competing on a level playing field and frankly don’t want to feel disadvantaged if they are adhering to our existing rules.”
The rules aren’t new, but Silver has been saying for months that it is pointless for the league to have policies that cannot be enforced. And while the new parameters aren’t foolproof, an important change is that every franchise will have to annually certify that its executives did not to free agents or their representatives before league rules allow.
But for years, the notion of waiting for the start of free agency to talk to available players has been largely ignored. This year, free agency was to officially begin at 5 p.m. CDT on June 30, and many deals were known to be done within minutes.
“There need to be consequences when rules are violated,” Silver said.
The league told teams last week that fines would be raised in part to reflect the 600 percent increase in league revenue and the 1,100 percent increase in franchise value since the maximum-fine ceilings were last touched in 1996.
There are some elements of the new measures that still need to be worked out — specifically, the specifics behind the league’s new mandate that five teams will be randomly selected for investigatory audits to see if there were any rule-compliance issues. The NBA wants teams to keep records of talks with players and agents for a year, and the league has the power to review a team’s electronic communications devices.
The privacy concerns, however, remain a sticking point, Silver said.
Sefolosha to sign with Rockets
The Rockets will sign veteran forward Thabo Sefolosha to a one-year contract, bolstering their depth at forward with a versatile 3-point shooter, a person with knowledge of the deal said.
Sefolosha, 35, played six seasons at Oklahoma City, here he was a teammate of Rockets guards James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Rockets center Clint Capela has said that Sefolosha’s career helped inspire his as a fellow native of Switzerland.
Sefolosha was limited to 50 games last season with the Utah Jazz because of hamstring and hip issues. He averaged 3.8 points in 12.2 minutes per game, making 43.6 percent of his 3-pointers. He has made 35.2 percent of his 3-pointers in a 13-year career.