Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com writes that Portland Trail Blazers president Larry Miller might have tampered with Milwaukee Bucks GM John Hammond, who is under contract through the 2012-2013 season, by expressing interest in him as a candidate for his team's open GM position before receiving permission from the Bucks to contact him. ------------------------- Hammond, by the way, still has a year left on his contract in Milwaukee and Miller is tampering if he in any way suggests hiring Hammond without asking permission from the Bucks to do so. ------------------------- Here's the language in Jason Quick of The Oregonian's original report on Portland's interest in Hammond. ------------------------- Miller said Friday that the 57-year-old Hammond will be a candidate, but he added that he has yet to ask the Bucks for permission to interview Hammond. ------------------------- Publicly confirming interest in another team's executive while he is under contract is certainly unusual by NBA standards. Here's a summary of the NBA's tampering rule and practice from Larry Coon's CBA FAQ. ------------------------- 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). You may have noticed that when general managers and other team personnel talk to the press, they are careful to avoid talking about specific players who play for other teams. They do this in order to avoid tampering. ------------------------- Charles F. Gardner of JSOline.com reports that Hammond declined to comment regarding Portland's interest in him. ------------------------- Bucks general manager John Hammond declined comment after Sunday's practice when asked about reports the Portland Trail Blazers have targeted him as a candidate for their open general manager position. ------------------------- Not sure this goes anywhere unless the Bucks were incredibly offended for some reason. Regardless, it's unclear how or why Miller -- or any NBA executve -- would ever find himself in this situation. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter