Bulls coach Billy Donovan remains very hopeful that Lonzo Ball is headed for a return. He also sees a roster in which Ball can play and be productive even with the emergence of Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White.
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
MIAMI – It would seem that the guard room at the Bulls facility should have a “filled to capacity” sign hanging outside the door come next fall.
After all, Coby White has emerged as a Most Improved Player of the Year candidate, Ayo Dosunmu has been playing stellar basketball for months, Alex Caruso is an All-NBA defender, Dalen Terry has become the 6th man lately, and then there’s Zach LaVine, who has bragging rights on most money baths this season.
So the idea of adding a healthy Lonzo Ball to the mix?
Bulls coach Billy Donovan was willing to pull up a chair for Ball and make room at the table when, and if, that time comes.
“I think one of the things that’s been good with Ayo and Coby is I really feel like they’ve complemented each other really well,” Donovan said on Friday. “Like they ‘Hey, you take it now,’ or ‘I’ll take it.’ They’ve worked well together. 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.
“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. I feel totally comfortable, now I’m not going into the defensive part, but I feel really good with those three guys out there just because of their makeup and their mindset as players.”
Ball is not even close to scrimmaging or taking that next step in the rehab process from a third left knee surgery, but the organization remains optimistic that he will stay on that road to recovery by next season.
Dosunmu and White specifically represent a solid wave of young players that the Bulls weren’t sure they even had a year ago, so the last thing they want to do is stunt their growth by taking away playing time because LaVine and Ball are back in the rotation.
Donovan will have some interesting decisions to make.
“As a player when you are young, it’s really hard to grow unless you go through some significant adversity,” Donovan said. “(Last) year’s struggles for (Dosunmu) speaks to his character. The same can be said of Coby. They’ve gone through difficulties and they’ve kind of leaned in on ways to get better. I do think in both of those guys, the offseason is critical for both of them.
“Ayo has to really look at the fact of what does he do now? To me that’s what good players do is take the experience and figure out a way to grow it and get better.”
Heat wave
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t just take note of the 42-point game from White against Atlanta on Wednesday, he’s been impressed with White most of the season.
“His confidence level has gone up, his usage rate has gone up,” Spoelstra said of the Bulls guard. “He’s just grown as a player and he’s had to weather some ups and downs through his career, and you have to respect somebody that’s kind of done it on a different path and it didn’t happen immediately. A lot of the things we talked about with (Tyrese) Maxey, (White) can do a lot of those things.”
Full go
Despite popping up on the injury report Alex Caruso (left ankle), Andre Drummond (left ankle) and Torrey Craig (knee) were all cleared to play with no minutes restrictions.