After an entertaining free agency, the NBA will investigate two deals that caught a lot of attention for possible tampering rules violations. After two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, Lonzo Ball landed in Chicago, while Kyle Lowry arrived in Miami after becoming the best player in Toronto Raptors history.
These two moves are very good for these teams, but they are suspicious to the league. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne report that the league is investigating possible tampering violations in each of these moves.
Reporting with @RamonaShelburne on ESPN: The NBA has opened up investigations into possible tampering violations involving two sign-and-trade deals completed in free agency: New Orleans and Chicago centered on Lonzo Ball, and Toronto and Miami centered on Kyle Lowry. Story soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 7, 2021
Lonzo signed a 4-year, $85 million deal with the Bulls at the start of free agency after Chicago agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Pelicans.
New Orleans received Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple, and a 2nd-round pick in exchange for the point guard.
Lowry inked a 3-year deal with the Heat, improving the 2020 Eastern Conference champions.
The league has some work to do, and it’s unclear what they’ll do if they find something irregular in these deals. These are two big additions to each team, and if somehow the trades get canceled, it’ll hurt their chances to compete in the upcoming NBA season.
NBA is expected to examine early contact on those deals ahead of the opening of free agency at 6 PM ET on Monday, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/Bl90sO2qj1
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 7, 2021
Wojnarowski adds that the league ‘is expected to examine early contact on those deals ahead of the opening of free agency at 6 PM ET on Monday.’
