Ball has been an afterthought after undergoing three left knee surgeries since 2022. That still didn’t stop the point guard from opting in for the final year of his four-year, $80-million deal.
Questions about Lonzo Ball’s availability to play basketball next season remain.
Where he’ll attempt to play basketball, well, Ball made that crystal clear on Saturday.
As expected, a source confirmed that the 26-year-old point guard exercised his $21.4 million player option with the Bulls, hoping to come back from three left knee surgeries since 2022 by the time fall camp opens.
Wishful thinking or a realistic goal for Ball?
The Bulls were obviously hoping for the latter.
As of three weeks ago, Ball was continuing to progress in his rehabilitation and was sprinting and cutting with no setbacks. The plan was to continue on that path with the hope of getting him back in full scrimmages by late July, early August and give him enough of a runway to get a full test of the knee by the time camp starts.
“Well, we’re just going to wait and see his progression the next couple months,” executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said recently of Ball. “He’s progressing well, so we’ll see where he’s at in a couple months.”
If he’s not able to go the Bulls could seek another medical exemption or waive Ball and stretch his deal out for some cap relief. If he can go it will be interesting to see how coach Billy Donovan would use Ball, and what kind of restrictions the guard would have from a minutes standpoint.
The Bulls were pleased with the growth of both Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu this past season, and if they can’t move Zach LaVine, Ball could really crowd up the guard room.
“Lonzo is such a smart player and his game is a lot of times predicated on throwing the ball up, generating closeouts, helping guys play fast, getting guys the ball in space, and I think all three of them help each other,” Donovan said recently of a White, Dosunmu, Ball trio on the court at the same time. “When I was in Oklahoma (City) we had Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), Chris Paul and we had Dennis Schroder, and I played those guys a lot together because of the IQ and the unselfishness, the way they were willing to play.”