MINNEAPOLIS – There were offers for Lonzo Ball, and some that even led to serious discussions the last few days, according to a source, but Lonzo Ball wanted to stay a Bull, ready and willing to endure the growing pains.
A trait that the organization deemed rare these days.
That’s why the Bulls signed Ball to a two-year, $20-million extension prior to the Wednesday 127-108 loss to the Timberwolves, to not only continue his feel-good comeback story from what could have been a career-ending left knee surgery, but act as the mentor for the rebuilding that’s underway.
His teammates found out at halftime, and to a man, called Ball and his story an inspiration.
“Guys are very happy for him,” veteran Nikola Vucevic said. “Guys have a certain respect and responsibility to step it up when he’s on the court because we know what he’s been through, we see how hard he competes every night. When you see that you can’t but try to match that and play hard for him.
“The way he plays, great team player, always tries to stay positive. You see him dive on the floor, fight for rebounds … you see that and what he’s been through, it just motivates you to play harder.”
Meanwhile, as far as a direction the organization is looking to pick, that’s already been determined with the Zach LaVine trade and the urgency in which they were looking to move Vucevic the last week. LaVine got done on Sunday, sent to Sacramento in a three-team deal, but several Vucevic deals have fallen apart – not on the Bulls side, according to a source – leaving the team still waiting to see if the market picks back up by the Thursday afternoon trade deadline.
The Sun-Times reported on Tuesday that the organization was preparing to keep Vucevic the rest of the season if need be, and revisit a possible trade in the offseason, but the situation remained fluid.
One team the Bulls can now likely rule out was Golden State, who was in serious talks about Vucevic until they felt that the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes were beginning to lean in their favor. That mega-trade happened while the Bulls were playing against Minnesota, with the Warriors landing Butler and then signing him to a reported two-year, $121-million extension.
Even if the Bulls can’t get another deal done by Thursday – Vucevic or any of the other players they’ve been discussing – coach Billy Donovan admitted that expect the product to “go backwards before we go forward.”
Donovan did admit to talking with executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas before the loss to the Timberwolves, but all was quiet.
“There was nothing he gave me of urgency,” Donovan said. “I would imagine from probably now until the end of the trade deadline there are things that will really pick up and we’ll have conversations about that. That was my point (Tuesday), as we try and get out from being stuck in the middle, there’s just periods of time during the season that you can do that. This is one of them, but when this passes, we’ve probably got to wait until the summer, right? There’s going to be iterations to this.
“It’s not like all of a sudden, ‘OK, there’s a new direction, rebuild, retool, whatever, starting over …’ There’s a process and then you start to think about, ‘OK, Zach’s gone, do these guys fit into what we’re doing in the future?’ We’ve got to figure those things out. What are you getting back when you do move players?
“But I’m saying as it relates to this situation where we are trying to go into a new direction to get out of the middle, probably have to go backwards before we go forwards. I think we’re in the process of doing that. What other deals are out there? I’m not really sure because he hasn’t mentioned anything to me of anything being close.”