NBA opens tampering investigation into sign-and-trade deals involving Lonzo Ball, Kyle Lowry
The NBA has opened a tampering investigation into free-agency deals involving the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, a person with knowledge of the situation told Paste BN Sports.
The person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing inquiry.
The focus of the investigation is on sign-and-trade deals involving Lonzo Ball to the Bulls and Kyle Lowry to the Heat and whether contact was made before teams could begin negotiating with free agents and restricted free agents at 6 p.m. ET on Monday.
Just before the start of the 2019-20 season, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed tampering and increased penalties for violating league rules.
"We already have rules on the books," Silver said, "and essentially the league was coming in at the direction of our teams and saying — and I’ll accept responsibility — you need to do a better job enforcing the rules that are already on your books and do a better job ensuring that there is a culture around the league where people believe there are absolute consequences if you don’t play by the rules.”
Penalties range from a fine, loss of draft pick(s) and voiding of deals. In 2019, the league increased the maximum fine for tampering to $10 million.
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Last year, the Milwaukee Bucks were stripped of their 2020 second-round draft pick regarding early contact with restricted free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic.
“The league conducted an investigation into whether the Bucks had discussions with Bogdan Bogdanovic and/or his agent regarding a free agent contract prior to the date when such discussions were permitted. The investigation concluded that early discussions did in fact occur, constituting conduct detrimental to the NBA,” the league said in a news release in December.
Bogdanovic ended up joining the Atlanta Hawks.