Bulls' Billy Donovan makes long-term Lonzo Ball admission on this season
09/25/2024 11:23 AM
One of the biggest question marks around the NBA has been Lonzo Ball. The 26-year-old’s future with the Chicago Bulls and in the NBA as a whole has been in question due to ongoing knee problems that have forced him to sit on the sidelines since 2022. Ahead of training camp and the 2024-25 season, Ball has been ramping up his activities in order to finally make his comeback, yet Billy Donovan and the Bulls are going to be extremely cautious with the point guard.
After all, Ball hasn’t played since 2022, and one more knee injury could end up forcing him to end his career prematurely. The Bulls still envision Ball being a key part of their roster during the 2024-25 season and beyond, which is why Donovan and the organization will monitor his play closely.
In fact, Donovan spoke with 670 The Score in Chicago on Wednesday, citing that Ball’s role will be determined based on how his body handles the workload every day. Chicago’s head coach also stated that the organization owes it to Ball not to overuse him and rush him back since he wants to play beyond this upcoming season.
“We don’t know how he is going to respond after games and practice because we haven’t seen it,” Donovan explained to Mully and Haugh on 670 The Score. “That’s where we first have to start off with… The one thing I do look at it from this lense is Lonzo loves to play. At his age, as much as he loves to play, he wants to play beyond this year. So we also have the responsibility to make sure he’s in a position where he can play after this season, and it’s not one of those things where it’s not managed correctly.”
Lonzo Ball’s role to be decided in Bulls training camp
Overall, Ball’s minutes and his role will be determined on a week-to-week, possibly a game-to-game basis, especially early on in the season when the team is still evaluating his progress and reaction to playing. Until training camp begins and the team can truly evaluate Ball on the court, it is hard for them to have a set gameplan entering the 2024-25 season.
Then again, executive Arturas Karnisovas made it clear that everyone in the organization will keep a close eye on Ball throughout training camp before making a decision on what his role will be.
“During training camp, we’re going to try to find out the loads he’s going to have to take and the grind on a daily basis. That will [impact] his minutes, his role, and how much he is going to play,” Karnisovas said. “But he has been playing 5-on-5 since August and doing more. He recently had a setback because he got sick and missed a week-and-a-half, but by training camp, he should be ramping up.”
The good news surrounding Ball is that he has been playing 5-on-5 and is finally back on the court after two long years of dealing with his knee problems. There is no telling what he may look like when he first plays during the 2024-25 season, but the important thing for Ball and the Bulls is that he is going to be returning in some capacity.
With Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, and others in the backcourt, the Bulls will certainly keep a close eye on Ball and the minutes he is given. It is very likely that Ball will see a hard minutes cap over the first few months of the regular season.
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