Walker Russell says the Knicks contacted him – tampering or considerate?
By Dan Feldman
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press on Walker Russell, whose contract becomes guaranteed Feb. 10:
"The point guard said before Saturday that some teams — including the Knicks — have reached out to him in case the Pistons cut him loose before then."
"Tampering is when a player or team directly or indirectly entices, induces or persuades anybody (player, general manager, etc.) who is under contract with another team to negotiate for their services. The NBA may impose stiff penalties if tampering is discovered, however the league’s practice has been to wait until a team lodges a complaint before investigating (but that’s not to say they don’t continue to monitor the leauge and won’t take action independently if they discover that tampering has occurred)."
Perhaps, the Pistons gave other teams permission to speak with Russell. If so, that could be a sign they don’t plan to keep him the rest of the season. Or maybe the Pistons are just being considerate to a player on an unguaranteed contract and want him to have options in case they release him.