Chicago Bulls: Lonzo Ball tampering investigation from NBA is useless
A report that the NBA opened an investigation into the sign-and-trade between the New Orleans Pelicans and Chicago Bulls that landed restricted free agent point guard Lonzo Ball in the Windy City came down this weekend. The Bulls did have that sign-and-trade with the Pelicans to nab Lonzo announced within a minute after the free agency negotiation window opened on Aug. 2.
This is one of two major investigations that the NBA already took to since the start of the free agency negotiation period. The other was the signing by the Miami Heat of the former Toronto Raptors veteran point guard Kyle Lowry (per USA Today sports).
The signings of both Lowry and Lonzo did come within minutes, if not seconds, of the opening of the free agency negotiation window. In this report from NBC Sports Chicago, it mentions how the signing of Lonzo was publicly announced so close to the opening of the window earlier in the week (literally within seconds).
Why the NBA investigating the Chicago Bulls signing Lonzo Ball won’t do anything for the future
The NBA is reportedly opening a tampering investigation regarding the Lonzo Ball-centered sign-and-trade agreement between the Bulls and Pelicanshttps://t.co/T5wyUk7uP2
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) August 7, 2021
The nature of the transaction that went down between the Bulls and Pelicans, with it not only being a regular free agent signing but a sign-and-trade deal, is likely what pushed this investigation from the NBA. If the Bulls had just signed Lonzo out of restricted free agency (or at least the two parties had agreed to a deal), this might not be an investigation at the moment.
But the fact that the Bulls had a sign-and-trade deal in place to ship off the likes of a second-round draft pick, veteran shooting guard Garrett Temple, and combo guard Tomas Satoransky, for the return of Lonzo didn’t help the matter.
It’s easy to see why there’s a reaction from both the NBA and the Bulls fan base on this subject. The NBA is trying harder to enforce these tampering rules, whilst a major market fan base is upset because this type of transaction seemingly goes down all the time without investigation.
The school of thought with this investigation tends to be that, while the NBA does have the ability to void the transaction of the Bulls signing Lonzo, that won’t happen. A future lost second-round draft pick or a financial penalty could come to the Bulls, though.
More than anything, this investigation from the NBA into the signings of both Lonzo and Lowry likely won’t do much over the long haul. The fact of the matter is that teams are always trying to make moves well ahead of time to piece together what players they want to get next. The NBA putting two investigations of this nature into place this offseason likely won’t do much to void anything like this from happening.
Next. 3 remaining free agents to replace Lauri Markkanen. dark
The Bulls wound up signing Lonzo to a four-year contract worth around a total of $85 million. He was the first big signing reported for the Bulls in free agency this offseason, quickly followed by a few more key additions, including the former San Antonio Spurs star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan.