NBA Gives Thunder's 2013 2nd Round Pick to Celtics Over Jeff Green Medical Dispute

Update and bumped:

Royce Young at Daily Thunder reports that the NBA has released a statement regarding the Jeff Green situation. It appears that my guess regarding failure to disclose Green's medical situation was correct. I'll add now that if this was the case, then this situation may not be done yet. If the OKC medical staff failed to disclose information to the Celtics medical staff, then they may have failed in their duty to disclose Green's medical situation to him as well, since it is reasonable to assume that if Green knew he had a heart issue he would have told the Celtics staff.

As part of a ruling in a trade disclosure dispute between the Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA Commissioner David Stern today awarded the Celtics a 2013 second-round draft pick held by the Thunder. Stern found that there was no evidence of bad faith or any intent to withhold information on the part of Thunder management or its physicians, but that Oklahoma City’s cardiologists were in possession of information about Jeff Green that was not shared with Thunder management and that should have been disclosed to the Celtics in connection with the trade of Green in February 2011.

Under NBA rules, teams are required to disclose to each other in connection with trades any information in their possession or control about a player’s prior injuries, illnesses, or other health conditions that could affect the player’s ability to play NBA basketball at any point in the future. Green had surgery on his heart in January 2012 and did not play during the 2011-12 season.

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Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the NBA has elected to punish the Oklahoma City Thunder by sending the Boston Celtics the Thunder's 2013 2nd round pick as compensation for Jeff Green's heart condition that manifested while Green was with the Celtics.

Thunder Forced to Give Up Draft Pick to Celtics | Yahoo! Sports

In this surprising turn of events, at the center of the controversy is Jeff Green, the player whom the Thunder sent to Boston at last season's trade deadline (Green was part of the deal that brought Kendrick Perkins to the Thunder). Green finished up the season in a Celtics jersey, opted to re-sign with Boston, but a failed physical revealed that Green had a condition determined to be an aortic aneurysm.

The condition caused Green to miss the entire 2011-12 season, and during that time the Celtics doctors put together a case that apparently implies that the Thunder medical staff failed in their due diligence to treat Green or failed to disclose his full medical condition to the Celtics. As a result, the NBA has chosen to penalize the Thunder and give their 2013 2nd round draft pick to the Celtics as compensation.

The draft pick was acquired by the Thunder last season in a deal that sent backup center Byron Mullens to Charlotte. Since the Bobcats are expected to struggle next season, the 2nd round pick could rise as high as the #31 pick.