Bulls Could Make Final Call on Injured Star Lonzo Ball

If the Chicago Bulls (23-26) were waiting on that one final sign that their plan this past offseason was faulty, they may have just gotten it and shared it with the public through head coach Billy Donovan.

Ahead of the team’s eventual 128-109 victory over the Orlando Magic team, Donovan addressed the media about the status of injured point guard Lonzo Ball.

Ball has not played since January of last year, appearing in just 35 games before tearing his meniscus. He underwent surgery in late January 2022 only to require a follow-up procedure in September – just eight months later – to remove loose cartilage. His return date went from 6-to-8 weeks to TBD as he has encountered numerous setbacks and hurdles along the way.

There does not appear to be an end in sight, either.

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Lonzo Ball ‘Nowhere Near Returning’

“I think we get through the All-Star Break, I think there would probably be everybody sitting down to talk about…is it not worth having him back just because it’s too much,” Donovan said, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Certainly once you get out of the All-Star Break…so you start to get to that point where I think there will be some conversations of, ‘OK, if he’s still not close to playing, what’s the plan moving forward?’

“As much as he’s made some progress, and some slow progress, I’d be the first one to tell you he’s nowhere near playing, he’s just not.’’

The Bulls pushed a theme of continuity this past offseason with Ball’s return as the centerpiece that was promised to bring their big three of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic together on the court.

They were 22-13 with Ball and have gone 46-49 without him since the start of last season.

To Donovan’s credit, he has not used Ball’s absence as a crutch for his team’s uneven performance this season. But the front office banked a lot on his return in their actions not so much in their words – they have only gone so far as to say they “hoped” he would return and have noted his progress has been slower than anyone had hoped.

Ball has been more upbeat recently speaking about his hope for an eventual return to action. He has also remained realistic about the fact that he could eventually run out of time to make that return this season.

“Naturally, yea,” Ball said. “Obviously, everything’s on a time schedule. But I’m trying to stay positive, keep my hopes up.”

He has avoided timetables but was pleased with his progress to now running and jumping.

There are 33 games left in the regular season and, by the time the All-Star break rolls around, there will be just 23 games remaining. As Donovan has alluded to many times, even once Ball is cleared, he would likely need significant time to ramp up and get into game shape — a tough ask amid a potential (and hopeful) playoff push.

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Bulls Either Failed to Plan or Planned to Fail

The lack of progress from Ball is secondary to the lack of progress from the healthy players that have taken the court this season. They are currently the 12-seed sitting outside the Play-In Tournament field pending their matchup with Orlando and have thus far failed to seize an opportunity, albeit on a road trip, to make up some ground lost amid earlier struggles.

Hoping for and even expecting Ball’s return is one thing. Not making the proper contingency plans in the event that he didn’t is another.

What we don’t – and probably won’t – know is if this was by choice or by decree.

The view of the Bulls in some league circles is that their front office headed by executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley couldn’t make the necessary moves to improve if they wanted to.

Whether or not that changes at the deadline and what direction they might choose are things to watch with less than two weeks to go.

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