Head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls are currently on a collision course for the NBA Play-In tournament, where they are likely to represent the number nine seed in the Eastern Conference. All told, that's not a terrible result for the Bulls considering the relative lack of talent on their roster, as well as the numerous injuries that Donovan and his staff have had to navigate this season.
Of course, the most notable injury in the Bulls' locker room is that of point guard Lonzo Ball, who has not played in an NBA game in over two full calendar years with a series of devastating leg injuries. However, it appears that there is now increased optimism that the former number two overall pick could be back on the court next season for Chicago.
“There’s growing buzz from some who talk to Ball that he’ll play next season,” reported KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “…That optimism needs to be measured against the fact that he hasn’t started taking contact or playing 5-on-5. Everyone associated with the Bulls is rooting for Ball. And the Bulls have to give him one more chance unless they trade him, and there was little interest in his contract when it was included in some preliminary talks leading up to the trade deadline, mostly as part of larger packages. Since Ball is almost guaranteed to pick up his player option, if he can play and the Bulls don’t trade him, he’ll be on the Bulls since their only way out would be to have an independent panel of doctors deem Ball’s injury career-ending.”
A rough two years for Lonzo Ball
As previously stated, Lonzo Ball hasn't seen the court in two full years, with his last game occurring in January of 2022. Since then, the former Los Angeles Laker and New Orleans Pelican has undergone an arthroscopic debridement and a cartilage transplant on his left knee, causing some to speculate on whether he would ever be able to play at the NBA level again.
For his part, KC Johnson urged caution despite the relatively optimistic report, citing a former Bulls icon in the process.
“Learned long ago from the (Derrick Rose) saga never to make definitive statements on comeback attempts for significant injuries,” wrote Johnson on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
When he was on the court, Lonzo Ball played a crucial role for a Bulls team that surprisingly hovered near the top of the Eastern Conference standings for the first half or so of the 2021-22 NBA season, before eventually losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round of the playoffs (by which point Ball was of course already out of the lineup).
Ball provided a sense of stability as well as a strong defensive presence for a team flanked by stars DeMar DeRozan, Zach Lavine, and Nikola Vucevic, but since he's been out of the lineup, the Bulls have mostly looked less than the sum of their parts.
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