Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat to lose next second-round pick for tampering violations

The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat will each lose their next-available second-round pick for tampering violations related to the signings of Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry in the offseason, the NBA announced Wednesday.

Since August, the NBA has been investigating whether illegal contact and negotiation occurred among teams and agents ahead of the opening of free agency at 6 p.m. ET on Aug. 2.

According to a memo obtained by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bulls and Heat “fully cooperated with the investigations,” which was taken into account when determining the penalties. The teams could have also faced the loss of additional draft picks, the suspension of team executives and fines of up to $10 million each.

“While we disagree, we accept the League’s decision,” the Heat said in a statement. “We are moving on with our season.”

The New Orleans Pelicans agreed to trade Ball, a restricted free agent, to the Bulls on a four-year, $80 million contract for Garrett Temple on a new, three-year, $15.5 million contract and guard Tomas Satoransky. The Heat negotiated a three-year, $85 million deal with Lowry in a sign-and-trade that sent guard Goran Dragic and forward Precious Achiuwa to the Toronto Raptors.

The Heat guaranteed Dragic’s $19.4 million team option before free agency, which allowed them to use him in the sign-and-trade deal.

The Milwaukee Bucks lost a 2022 second-round pick for tampering charges with Sacramento Kings restricted free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic in 2021. With the penalty, the NBA took into consideration that the Bucks did not ultimately acquire Bogdanovic, who signed with the Atlanta Hawks.