The Hawks should be fined for lying to their fans, not tampering with Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. I know you need rules in place for these sort of things, but it isn’t like everyone doesn’t know Howard and Paul are going to check out their free agent options.
But, rules are rules and technically Howard and CP3 are still under contract, so the league is looking into this.
According to the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, teams are required to decline comment about potential free agents prior to the beginning of free agency. Paul, who has spent the past two seasons with the Clippers, and Howard, coming off a disappointing season with the Lakers, technically remain under contract with their respective teams until the July 1 deadline.
“The buzz around our offseason is more than heating up,” the letter said, according to the paper. “With massive cap space, 4 draft picks, and free agency rapidly approaching, we sit in the best position in the NBA. Player interest is skyrocketing as the possibilities of landing Chris Paul & Dwight Howard become more and more of a reality.
“This is your opportunity to get on board before its [sic] too late. Once we solidify our signings there will be no seats left.”
Straight lies to sell tickets. They should be ashamed of themselves. Even though I did chuckle a bit.
