The Bulls jumped out of the gate with the tip-off of free agency Monday, and now the NBA is investigating if they were guilty of a false start.
According to ESPN, the Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade agreement with the Pelicans could have violated the league’s tampering rules, and those two teams aren’t alone. The league also is investigating the sign-and-trade deal between the Heat and Raptors that sent Kyle Lowry to Miami.
No big deal, considering tampering has gone on for years?
Not the case.
The NBA has wanted to stamp out this practice, and two years ago it instituted stiffer punishments for guilty organizations. That included a maximum tampering fine of up to $10 million, having draft picks taken away or contracts 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 it appeared to be a common practice, but those days are gone. 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, is how quickly it went down, just minutes after the negotiating window opened. The Bulls already had agreed to fully guarantee Tomas Satoransky’s contract 24 hours earlier, then sent a second-round pick, Satoransky and Garrett Temple to the Pelicans for Ball.
The Bucks found out how serious the league was last season, getting stripped of a 2022 second-round pick when it was discovered they prematurely had contacted Bogdan Bogdanovic. 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 had no comment Saturday.
