The NBA has completed its investigation into tampering violations by the Bulls and Heat regarding the Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry offseason signings, respectively, giving each team what amounts to minimal punishment.
As a result of the investigation, each team will have to surrender its next available second-round draft pick.
The NBA announces slap-on-the-wrist penalties for Chicago and Miami in the sign-and-trades it had been investigating since August involving Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry. Both teams only lose one second-round pick each. pic.twitter.com/b4a70zrHNO
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 1, 2021
The league told teams in a memo that both the Bulls and Heat “fully cooperated with the investigations” and that factored into the decision on penalties, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Bulls acquired Ball in a sign-and-trade with the Pelicans, and the deal was reported almost as soon as the legal free agency tampering period began, but wasn’t announced until Aug. 8.
Meanwhile, Lowry announced he was signing with the Heat on Aug. 2, an hour into the free agency period.
The league investigation included reviewing electronic messages from team executives and agents, and the Pelicans and Raptors were also investigated. No punishment was handed down to either team.
“Sign-and-trade deals can be complex to pull off. So when the deals were reported so quickly, red flags apparently were raised for the league,” wrote Steve DelVecchio of Larry Brown Sports.
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