The Chicago Bulls have been without guard Lonzo Ball all season and it looks like they won't have the former No. 2 pick back in the fold anytime soon.
K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports said Ball being ruled out for the season is a “foregone conclusion” when appearing on the Bulls Talk Pod. The update comes after Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas told the media last week Ball has been making incremental progress working his way back onto the floor.
Ball hasn't seen any on-court action since tearing his meniscus on Jan. 14 last year against the Golden State Warriors. His timetable to return was initially only going to take a few weeks. However, weeks turned into months and Ball still can't make cuts, according to Johnson. Chicago has 23 games left on its schedule and finds itself two games outside of the play-in tournament.
Despite losing one of the best defensive pests on the perimeter in Ball, the Bulls have ranked seventh in defensive efficiency this season. However, they have missed him as a connector on offense as the team has only shown glimpses of having the same cohesion it did in the first half of last season.
The Bulls decided to hold onto their assets at the trade deadline, much to the chagrin of the fan base. The team hasn't put together a solid stretch of game since it won seven out of the ten games it played between Jan. 15-Feb. 6. The Bulls went into the all-star game weekend on a six-game losing streak.
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