It took four months for the NBA to announce the results of the tampering investigation involving Lonzo Ball and the Chicago Bulls, as well as Kyle Lowry and the Miami Heat. After rumblings of the league cracking down with harsh penalties, both the Bulls and Heat are only getting docked their next available second-round pick.
Given there was chatter of the Bulls possibly losing a first-round pick, only losing another second-round pick is a slap on the wrist and, to be quite honest, a huge win. While losing a second-rounder still stinks because tampering rules are a sham, it's ultimately rather meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
Having to give up another second-round pick in order to get Ball is totally worth it. Ball has been outstanding for the Bulls so far this season, and nobody should care about giving up some random second-rounder in this situation.
*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*
On the latest episode of Blue Wire's Cash Considerations, I made this same declaration about the NBA's ruling on this matter:
“The bottom line is, though, only a second-round pick after this long investigation into tampering. … The bottom line, whichever second-round pick the Bulls are giving up, whether it's their own pick in 2026, whether it's 2023 from Denver. The bottom line is they're only giving up one second-round pick, when we thought that they could lose a first, that maybe AK could be punished, that there would be some massive fine. So, ultimately, I feel like this is a huge win for the Bulls.”
The Bulls are happy to finally have this nonsense behind them. They have Lonzo Ball and didn't get docked a first-round pick. They should see this as an absolute win.
Listen to the full Cash Considerations episode here:
Cash Considerations: A Chicago Bulls Podcast is part of the Blue Wire Podcast Network. The pod can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.
Follow Us
Subscribe