Bulls set to lose second-round pick due to Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade
The punishment arrived for the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 1 after the NBA’s investigation into potential tampering in the sign-and-trade deal from last offseason with the New Orleans Pelicans to land point guard Lonzo Ball. The NBA was in a tampering investigation surrounding the deals where the Bulls landed Lonzo from the Pelicans, and where the Miami Heat snagged point guard Kyle Lowry from the Toronto Raptors, for a few months now.
It didn’t take long after these deals originally went down for the NBA to jump into their tampering investigations with the Bulls and Heat. And it looked like the punishments could be a lot more severe than they actually turned out to be for these two teams.
According to a report on Twitter from ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski on the morning of Dec. 1, the Bulls and Heat are each set to lose a second-round draft pick as a punishment for the sign-and-trade deals from last offseason. Each team will lose their next available second-round draft pick.
Chicago Bulls punishment is in from the Lonzo Ball tampering investigation
The league told teams in a memo that both the Bulls and Heat "fully cooperated with the investigations" and that was taken into account when doling out the penalties. https://t.co/Uc7PCuqN1t
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 1, 2021
Yet, apparently, the punishments ranged from executive suspension to $10 million fines each, all the way to more losses of draft picks than just one second-rounder.
There are a few second-round draft picks in 2022 that the Bulls could wind up forfeiting, depending on how some things shake out in the standings this season. Three different second-round draft picks have the opportunity to be lost for the Bulls in 2022.
All in all, this isn’t all that bad for the Bulls compared to what the punishment could’ve been for tampering in the Lonzo sign-and-trade deal with the Pelicans from back in early August.
The deal that originally went down to get Lonzo in a sign-and-trade deal with the Pelicans included the Bulls shipping off veteran guards Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple, along with a 2024 second-round draft pick, and cash considerations. Essentially just add another second-round draft pick to the deal and that’s what the Bulls gave up to sign Lonzo.
Studs, duds, from win over Hornets. dark. Next
The signing of Lonzo paid immediate dividends on both ends of the floor for head coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls so far this season. He’s helped guide the Bulls to a dramatic improvement in the win column this season, as the team carries a record of 14-8 following a big 14-point win over the Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 29.