Billy Donovan says Lonzo Ball's knee injury not among reasons PG missed Bulls' preseason opener
After years of rehabbing from recurring left knee injuries, Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball is on the verge of returning. While Ball missed Tuesday's preseason opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to Bulls coach Billy Donovan, his absence was unrelated to his surgically repaired knee.
Ball has faced an extensive road to recovery, undergoing three operations on his left knee over the last few years. He failed to recover from surgery on his torn left meniscus in 2022, later undergoing an arthroscopic debridement procedure to clear up debris.
After facing continued setbacks, last year, the 2017 No. 2 draft pick opted for an experimental cartilage transplant, completely replacing his damaged meniscus. Now, he is on the brink of playing his first game since Jan. 14, 2022.
Last week, reports emerged that Lonzo Ball participated in the start of training camp for the 2024-25 season with no setbacks, including competing in five-on-five scrimmages. Nevertheless, on Tuesday, Chicago held Ball out of its preseason opener against Cleveland at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
While the decision elicited concern surrounding Ball's knee, Donovan reassured Bulls supporters that he is still ramping up for his return. He noted that Ball experienced a setback conditioning-wise after contracting COVID-19 ahead of training camp, leading the organization to take additional caution.
"I think in talking to medical and even my conversations with him, I think there's still a period of him getting his strength back," Donovan said. "Probably lost out on working out for more than a week [with COVID]. Lost some weight, lost some strength. We're going to be cautious with the buildup."
Chicago has four more preseason games scheduled, beginning with a home matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Per Donovan, Ball is likely to return during the four-game slate. However, the veteran coach didn't make any guarantees.
"I fully anticipate him playing at some point in the preseason games, but I think it's going to be based on more practices, load [management], where he's at physically," Donovan said. "Right now, the best decision with where he's at is just continue to try and build him up."
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Billy Donovan says Lonzo Ball must carve out "niche" role upon return from recurring left knee injuries
Lonzo Ball is expected to be extremely limited when he makes his seemingly imminent return. According to Billy Donovan, Chicago plans to restrict his minutes throughout the season to try and maximize his production in a bit part.
"We've got to find a way for him to prolong his career where he can show in these amounts of minutes he can be a productive player," Donovan said. "I also think he understands, too, that from a minutes standpoint, this is not going to be what it was for him in New Orleans or even what it was for him his first year in Chicago."
Donovan added that Ball, a regular starter throughout his career, will have to learn to adjust to playing a "niche" role for the Bulls.
"He's got to find a way to try and carve out a really good niche for himself," Donovan said. "He's going to have to show that he can do it over the course of the season, but some of that, maybe he doesn’t play 82 games. Maybe he plays 65."
Across 35 outings in the 2021-22 season, Lonzo Ball averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.1 3-pointers per game, shooting 42.3%. He played 34.6 minutes per game as a starter. However, based on Donovan's comments, Chicago fans can probably expect him to play sub-20 mpg upon his return.
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