The commissioner got wind of Scott and Kip before Scott and Kip were ever going to come out.
And I do feel like for this to work, it'd have to be more of the age difference of the show actors than the book characters, so that Scott and Kip are together prior to Ilya and Shane ever entering the league.
And this is when Scott is the big Golden Boy of the league.
And here come Shane and Ilya, and they get drafted the same as in canon, but after their rookie year, the commissioner finds out about Scott and is trying his best to figure out a way to basically make Scott become the bad guy to the fans and also keep him in check so that he won't come out.
Maybe even keep him in check at home, so he can't even have a private relationship.
What's the best way to do that? Some league tampering. Have one of the two best players on the league be put not only on Scott's team- but make sure Scott has the responsibility of billeting him. Because other young players might fear a veteran's power and reputation, but not either of the two best in the league.
And as far as who to pick?
Well, is Shane were to be picked, any issues the new Golden boy has with the old Golden boy,...well, fans will take his side. So, that's tempting. But Hollander's contract is well-done. His agent and family are on top of that.
However, Ilya's already got tension with Scott (at least as far as the Commissioner can tell). Plus Ilya's Russian, so in the Commissioner's mind that somehow means he's already homophobic, and honestly, it's easier to screw with someone's contract if they're dependent on their work for a visa. Just what the Commissioner wants. And yes, Ilya's not the Golden Boy, but he is very loved by his fans, and if Ilya shows disgust at someone, that would certainly make them look "depraved".
So, after some deliberation, and some tampering- Crowell arranges it so that Ilya is transferred to the Admirals and has to live with Scott. Almost like a second rookie year.
And Scott's walking on eggshells until Ilya (who is too perceptive to actually be living with Scott and miss the signs that he missed the first time- hence why he's so good at clocking everyone else), goes "You know...you can just invite your boyfriend here. I can clear out for a few hours. You just....clean all surfaces after."
And Scott's internally dying.
But having that one person of (questionable) support on Scott's side helps him get his shit together so much faster with Kip, and they don't have that long separation. It also helps for Scott to start thinking about the support group earlier.
And Ilya living with Scott and Kip means his sneaking around with Shane gets clocked so much earlier because yes, Scott might be unobservant about some stuff, but Kip is right there and is just like,
"Ilya, you can invite your boyfriend to dinner next time he plays here."
"We're not boyfriends. We're casual."
"Okay, well, you can invite your casual hook-up buddy of years to dinner then."
And Scott's like "What now?"
