Chicago Bulls: Team could lose first round pick for Lonzo penalty

Back in August, the idea that the Chicago Bulls could receive a sizable punishment from the NBA in the tampering investigation regarding the sign-and-trade with the New Orleans Pelicans to lend point guard Lonzo Ball loomed large. The Bulls had a sign-and-trade deal announced with the Pelicans to get Lonzo as their point guard of the future literally almost right as the free agent negotiation window opened up last month.

The investigation that followed for tampering from the NBA on this Lonzo deal between the Bulls and Pelicans hasn’t generated a whole lot of news in the headlines for the past few weeks. But if the NBA starts to ramp up the investigation heading into the regular season, it could be a notable distraction for the Bulls’ organization and the fans.

There was an update that Cody Westerlund of 670 The Score gave on what he’s hearing about the potential ramifications of this tampering investigation with the Bulls and Lonzo this week. Here’s what he noted in an update on what he’s hearing on the matter this week as Training Camp begins in Chicago.

"While it’s unclear what Chicago’s punishment will be, there’s a belief in some NBA circles that the Bulls could be docked a first-round draft pick. Not that Karnisovas would even broach the topic, of course. He’d like it to go away forever, completely declining to address the topic in any manner Monday."

How harsh could the NBA’s penalty be to the Chicago Bulls for the Lonzo Ball situation?

The idea that the Bulls could lose a first-round draft pick as a possible punishment for the Lonzo tampering investigation is not good for the future of this franchise. While it’s not worth pressing the panic button right away, the Bulls have already dealt out a lot of future draft capital since the new front office regime took over for John Paxson and Gar Forman last year.

At the moment, it really does look like executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas will go all out to avoid addressing this topic in the public eye. And, of course, that makes sense.

Why would he address this in the media with the looming investigation hanging over this organization?

Nonetheless, it is still important to watch what happens with any actual news that comes down from this investigation. If the Bulls are on the hook to lose a draft pick, hopefully it will be one in the second round.

There is a lot going on for the Bulls right now. Lonzo and the Bulls opened up Training Camp this week, specifically back on Sep. 28. And then, the Bulls open up the preseason slate on Oct. 5 at home at the United Center against the Cleveland Cavaliers.