According to a report, the Bulls and Pelicans are being investigated for the Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade deal that went down on Monday, as well as how Kyle Lowry ended up on South Beach.
The Bulls quickly jumped out of the gate with the tip-off of the free-agent period on Monday, and now the NBA will be investigating if they actually were guilty of a false start.
According to a report, the Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade agreement with New Orleans could have violated the league’s tampering rules, and those two teams aren’t alone. The league is also investigating the sign-and-trade deal between Miami and Toronto, which sent Kyle Lowry to South Beach.
No big deal, considering tampering has gone on for years?
Not the case.
The NBA wanted to stamp out this practice, and two years ago instituted stiffer punishments for guilty organizations. That included a maximum tampering fine of up to $10 million, having draft picks taken away, or contracts simply voided. If the league wants to turn up the heat on the investigation that means confiscating phones of all front office members believed to be involved.
Tampering was a running joke in the NBA for years because of what a common practice it appeared to be, but those days are gone, and now the Bulls could find out how serious the league is about persuading teams to follow guidelines.
What doesn’t help the situation, especially in the case of the Ball deal, was how quickly it went down, just minutes after the negotiation window was opened up. The Bulls had already agreed to fully guarantee the Tomas Satoransky contract 24 hours earlier, and then sent a second-round pick, Satoransky and Garrett Temple to the Pelicans for Ball.
Milwaukee found out how serious the league was last season, stripping the Bucks of a 2022 second-round pick when it was discovered that they had contacted Bogdan Bogdanovic prematurely. What should have the Bulls, Heat, Pelicans and Raptors nervous is the Bogdanovic deal fell apart for the Bucks, and he ended up with the Hawks. The punishment reflected that.
The Bulls obviously had no comment on the situation on Saturday, as they will likely let the investigation play out.
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/3fH3GEm
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