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Understanding Why Salary Cap Circumvention Is Dangerous for the NBA

Tampering has become a major problem for the NBA. Teams are forbidden from attempting to induce or persuade players who are under contract to other teams to join them. Under the league’s constitution, teams that are caught tampering face a potential range of punishments—including fines, forfeiture of draft picks and voidance of free agent signings.

Yet plenty of teams disregarded the rules and blatantly tampered before the start of free agency on June 30. Thus far, not one of those teams has been punished. Per reporting by ESPN and The New York Times, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his leadership team are now exploring ways to address the problem.