Yahoo Sports NBA writers Jake Fischer and Dan Devine hop on the “Ball Don’t Lie” podcast to discuss NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s comments about the investigations surrounding Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, and try to guess at what level of punishment may be leveed by the league after the NBA Finals.

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Video Transcript

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JAKE FISCHER: I was not at Adam Silver's press conference that you were at. He was asked about the ongoing developments with Ja Morant.

DAN DEVINE: Yeah, it was Jeff Zillgitt from "USA Today" asked about the investigation involving Moran, an update on the timeline, when you expect it to end, et cetera. Adam Silver, quote, "in terms of the timing, we've uncovered a fair amount of additional information, I think. I will say we probably could have brought it to a head now, but we made the decision, and I believe the Players' Association agrees with us, that it will be unfair to these players and these teams in the middle of the series, The Finals, to announce the results of that investigation. Seemed better to park that at the moment, at least any public announcement, and my sense now is that shortly after the conclusion of The Finals, we will announce the outcome of that investigation."

So when you say, we thought it would be best not to make it a focal point. So just heads up, look out for detox, it's coming right after The Finals. Like, delivering a teaser for a disciplinary action to come from.

JAKE FISCHER: It's a soap opera. You've got to keep leaving dangling plotlines for your audience to latch onto.

DAN DEVINE: Yeah, leave them-- forever leave them wanting more, I guess. But I think the initial, at least in that room, the initial thought was, OK, then a suspension is coming and probably a significant one. You know, so are people sort of starting to wonder, over/under on when you would see Morant on the floor next? Is that going to be 25 games, 35 games, half the season, who knows.

But depending on what that additional information that's come to light, I would anticipate, based on the way he discussed it tonight, that when we get past The Finals, maybe after the draft when this all gets resolved-- gets brought up and resolved, it'll be a pretty significant punishment for Morant coming, and the Grizzlies are going to have to deal with, and he's going to have to deal with. And well, the next chapter in his career is going to have to start with a manifest change of that behavior.

JAKE FISCHER: Look, before Adam Silver does these media availabilities, you can bet that he sits around a table with plenty of public relations staffers and they prepare themselves for what possible questions could be coming and what the answers could be.

DAN DEVINE: Right.

JAKE FISCHER: So for him to reveal this, it's not just the guy saying something in front of a microphone. I mean, obviously, he said it straight up, we don't want this to distract from things. The fact that he said that definitely makes me think that, to your point, there will be some type of heft to the punishment because if it's something that could potentially distract us from The Finals, then, I don't think it's 10 games, you know what I mean? That's kind of-- I mean, maybe that's a reductive, like, obvious thing to say, but that was kind of my thought on the matter there.