The Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls' respective key additions from this past offseason — Kyle Lowry and Lonzo Ball — may get them into some hot water soon.
The NBA launched an investigation into both moves in August on the suspicion that Miami and Chicago violated the league's tampering violations. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the league is in the “advanced stages” of its investigation. He revealed what punishments could be for the teams should they be found guilty.
“The NBA has talked to the team executives [and] agents involved, gathered up communications — text messages, emails,” Wojnarowski reported. “We could be closer here to what the league's findings are going to be on that probe…Potential penalties if teams are found guilty: up to a $10 million fine per team, the loss of draft picks and even the suspension of team executives…we may know the league's findings sooner than later.”
The Bulls and Heat are both off to strong starts with their new point guards, as each of them brings impactful playmaking, defense and shooting skills to their respective teams.
Lowry has helped the Heat to a record of 7-5. Even though his averages are pedestrian for his standards, he has helped reignite Miami's offense. Ball has helped the Bulls start 8-3, one of their best starts in recent memory. Chicago is one of the best teams on both sides of the ball so far thanks to Ball and sign-and-trade acquisition DeMar DeRozan.
The Milwaukee Bucks were busted for tampering in the 2020 offseason. Their transaction — acquiring Bogdan Bogdanovic via sign-and-trade from the Sacramento Kings — didn't go through and they lost their 2022 second-round draft pick.
Finding a draft pick to take away from the Heat may prove to be complicated if it is invoked, as they have traded many of their future picks over the years. The Bulls have traded many of theirs away, too.
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