The Chicago Bulls are coming off a tough and injury-plagued 2023-24 season. For the second straight season, the Bulls failed to qualify for the play-in tournament and missed the playoffs. The Bulls finished four games under .500, and their season was once again without the dynamic play of point guard Lonzo Ball.
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Ball has missed a lot of time due to injuries, including the last two seasons. The Bulls and Ball have had a rough time of it lately, but hopefully that will all change in the future. While many don’t see the Bulls leading the Eastern Conference standings after the departure of veterans DeMar DeRozan (via a trade to the Sacramento Kings) and Alex Caruso (via a trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey), there is hope that they will be healthy enough to be a solid team next season.
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Bulls head coach Billy Donovan is aware of Ball’s importance and has revealed how excited he is to have him back, potentially, and the potential Ball and latest addition Josh Giddey can have on the team due to their pace of play.
“I hope we can get Lonzo back,” Donovan said in an interview with Frank Isola, Amin Elhassan and Ryan McDonough of Sirius XM NBA Radio. “He’s getting closer … he’s a guy that everybody loves to play with and I think the same can be said for Josh.”
Ball underwent surgery on his left knee midway through the 2021-22 season and has not been back since. The 26-year-old underwent two surgeries in 2022, one in January to repair a torn left meniscus and the other in September, where he underwent arthroscopic debridement of his left knee. However, he continued to experience pain, leading the Bulls to sideline him for the entire 2022-23 season.
Although Ball has undergone successful surgeries, he continues to suffer, leading the former lottery pick to miss the last two and a half seasons. The surgeries didn’t stop there for Ball. He underwent his third surgery on his left knee last March for a more aggressive cartilage transplant procedure. Ball himself announced he would miss the entire 2023-24 season.
Although Ball has been hit with bad news, his head coach is hopeful that he will be available for the 2024-25 season. In his last healthy season, Ball not only brought a different dimension to the Bulls on offense, but he was also a willing and capable defender. He has tremendous size for his position, and that has been sorely missed by the Bulls and their fans.
Optimism around Ball is running high, and it’s clear Donovan is eager to see him back on the court.
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