The NBA punishes the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls

Though both teams will feel hard done, they were certainly on the wrong side of league rules.

Bulls and Heat punished by the NBA

Having seen a four-month investigation come to an end, the NBA has finalled handed down punishment to the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. The two teams will now forfeit a second-round draft pick as a result of what were deemed by the league to be premature discussions regarding the free agency of guards Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry. In a league statement on Wednesday the NBA made their stance clear.

According to ESPN both Chicago and Miami will lose their next available second-round pick after the league probe found that the teams had 'impermissible discussions' with representatives of the players ahead of the opening of free agency on August 2nd. The statement also added that "both teams fully cooperated with the investigations," which was considered when penalties were given. In response to the punishment, both teams released their own statements. "While we disagree, we accept the league's decision," said a release from the Heat, while the Bulls stated. "We are glad this process has concluded and look forward to the rest of our season."

What did the NBA's investigation involve?

Over the course of the last few months, the NBA conducted a number of interviews with team executives and player agents. The league also collected electronic messaging of front-office executives of four teams - Chicago, New Orleans, Miami and Toronto. The investigation itself was actually announced in mid August and was specifically aimed at discovering whether illegal contact and negotiations had occurred before the opening of free agency on August 2nd. Previously the league had implemented stricter penalties in such cases in 2019, including raising the maximum fine for teams to $10 million and potentially suspending team executives, forfeiting draft picks and even the complete voiding of contracts. As one can appreciate, sign-and-trade deals are considerably more complex which in turn normally requires more time than free-agent signings. Understandably such agreements normally involve a greater amount discussion and negotiation time to complete.

For more from the NBA

What did Miami and Chicago do exactly?

As was previously reported, Miami negotiated a three-year, $85 million deal with Lowry in the sign-and-trade deal that sent guard Goran Dragic and forward Precious Achiuwa to the Raptors. The Heat then guaranteed Dragic's $19.4 million team option before free agency, which allowed them to use him in the sign-and-trade deal. The Bulls on the other hand reached an agreement with the Pelicans to acquire Ball - a restricted free agent - on a four year deal worth $80 million in a trade for Garret Temple who was due to receive a new three year, 15.5 million dollar contract along with guard Tomas Satoransky.

Of course, it doesn't stop there. The Milwaukee Bucks actually also lost a 2022 second-round pick for what was charged as tampering with the Sacramento Kings restricted free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic. What bore leniency in that case was the fact that in the end the Bucks did not in fact sign Bogdanovic during the 2020 offseason, indeed he ended up with the Atlanta Hawks.