The NBA has announced Wednesday that the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls will forfeit their next second-round draft picks due to premature discussions with Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry. The violations occurred before NBA 2021 Free Agency period began, which broke the Leagues tampering rule.
The following has been announced by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/SDE7TcwtmE
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 1, 2021
According to reports from ESPN League insider Adrian Wojnarowski., The League started its investigation back on August 7 after the start of the free agency on August 2. They conducted numerous interviews with team executives and player agents and gathered electronic messaging of the front office’s executives of Chicago, New Orleans, Miami, and Toronto over the past four months.
Both Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls have since made a statement on the League’s news.
The Miami Heat said, “While we disagree, we accept the league’s decision.”
The Bulls released a statement, saying, “We are glad this process has concluded and look forward to the rest of our season.
Despite the news, both the Chicago Bulls (14-8) and Miami Heat (13-8) are off to a great start to the 2021-22 season due to the play of their offseason signings.
Miami negotiated a three-year, $85 million deal with Lowry in the sign-and-trade with the Toronto Raptors that sent guard Goran Dragic and forward Precious Achiuwa to the Raptors. At the same time, the Bulls traded veterans Garrett Temple and Tomas Satoransky to the Pelicans in a sign-and-trade deal for Ball, who signed a four-year, $85 million contract with the Bulls.
