For the first time since Lonzo Ball’s health officially came into question back on January 15th, Bulls fans have received a positive update.
The Chicago Bulls’ point guard has struggled to regain strength after a surgery that repaired a small ligament tear in his meniscus. The injury caused him to miss the final 41 games of the regular season and the entirety of the playoffs. Not once did Ball even come close to making a return, and he made clear at his end-of-season press conference that he was still feeling discomfort in his knee.
We then received a report in the early portion of this offseason that the Bulls had “serious concerns” about Ball’s inability to get back up to speed. Fortunately, it now sounds as if those concerns have subsided, as General Manager Marc Eversley told reporters on Thursday night that Ball has taken steps in the right direction.
“Currently working out in LA, still doing his rehab,” Eversley said after Thursday night’s draft (h/t K.C. Johnson). “We have sent our performance staff to see him every week and track his progress. All reports are good. He’s making progress.”
When asked whether or not he believed Ball would be ready for training camp, Eversley offered nothing more than an “I certainly hope so.” While that response still makes me a bit queasy, it’s probably the right one when we consider how unusual this Lonzo Ball situation has turned out to be. My guess is the organization is under the assumption that he will be back to 100 percent come September, but they likely don’t want to risk putting Ball in a weird place if something were to go south.
Still, no matter how we look at it, this is at least a version of the good news we’ve been waiting for. We all saw how important Ball was to this team’s consistent two-way play last season, and there is no question the Bulls will need him on the floor more next year to take the next competitive step in a tightly-contested Eastern Conference.
