Bulls Violated NBA's Tampering Rules, Will Lose Second Round Pick

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls will surrender a second-round draft pick after the franchise violated the NBA tampering policy in the acquisition of guard Lonzo Ball from the New Orleans Pelicans in the offseason.

The league announced the decision on Wednesday. The Bulls were one of two teams found to be in violation of tampering rules with the other being the Miami Heat in the acquisition of Kyle Lowry from the Toronto Raptors.

The Bulls agreed to a four-year, $85 million deal with Ball, who is averaging 12.5 points and 4.8 assists per game this season. The league determined during a four-month investigation that the Bulls made contact with Ball before the league’s free agency window opened.

The Bulls completed a sign-and-trade deal for Ball and gave up Garrett Temple and Tomas Satoransky.

“We cooperated completely with the league in its investigation,” the Bulls said in a statement issued on Wednesday. “We are glad this process has concluded and look forward to the rest of our season.”

The Bulls don’t have a second-round pick in the NBA Draft until 2023. That pick, which came from the Denver Nuggets, is protected if it falls between picks 31 and 46. After that the Bulls don’t have a second-round pick until 2026, according to RealGM.com.

ESPN reported on Wednesday that the Bulls’ cooperation factored into the leniency that was showed to the team when it comes to the penalty assessed. In 2019, the NBA initiated more serious penalties for tampering, including fining a team $10 million and suspending team executives and voiding contracts.

By cooperating, the Bulls were only forced to give up the upcoming second-round pick.