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Lonzo Ball #2 of the Chicago Bulls.
Chicago Bulls the head coach Billy Donovan told reporters that doctors had extricated the injured ringleader Lonzo ball to take the next steps in his rehabilitation following the knee injury that has robbed him of most of the last two seasons.
Ball suffered a third, and relatively rare surgical procedure to correct the problem and was already ruled out for the entire 2023-24 season.
The news comes at a critical time for the front office.
“The Bulls received a $10.2 million disabled player exception for Ball’s absence this season, which expires Monday. [March 10]”, KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago wrote on March 9. “This will obviously remain unused. »
Donovan maintains that he is more concerned about Ball on a personal level than a professional one.
Ball, 26, is in the third year of a four-year, $80 million contract.
He has a $21.4 million player option for next season. The Bulls could apply to have this erased their books if Ball is deemed unfit to return to play next season. This might be a failure after Donovan’s update.
Especially with the team coming into play against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 9, maintaining a strong hold on a spot in the Play-In tournament.
With 18 games remaining, the Bulls could have taken advantage of this exception to improve the roster.
Bulls HC Billy Donovan: Lonzo Ball ‘looks good in motion’
The ball passed to highly anticipated sequel of his rehabilitation: running and cutting.
“He starts running. I know we talked about this last time. Some of the practices have been, I think, really, really positive in terms of running, cutting, jumping, doing those things, he’s progressed in that area and responded well,” Donovan said. via Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune on March 9. “Some of the things the guys showed me is that he looks good in motion.”
This comes shortly after reports surfaced of internal concerns that Ball had not yet reached that point.
According to Johnson, the next step for Ball will be to move onto contact.
“At some point we’ll have a conversation about what’s the next step in terms of contact for him,” Johnson said, according to Johnson. “He had 2 1/2 years of no contact.”
Ball claimed he would return to the field and even confronted speculation to the contrary head-on. His back and forth with ESPN Personality Stephen A. Smith was the most remarkable. But Ball continues to show progress.
Lonzo Ball shared an encouraging workout video
Ball shared a video of himself making low-speed cuts on the court following reports that the Bulls were concerned about his knee.
Bulls players have made no secret of what he meant to the team when he was healthy. The Bulls have extended continuity since Ball’s initial injury put a damper on their 2021-22 campaign.
They may be closer to being rewarded for that perseverance than it seemed at the start of the season.
However, not using any part of the exception while remaining 1.1 million below the luxury tax, by Spotracundermines much of the positivity from this update or recent Bulls play.
Josh Buckhalter covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com with a focus on the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos. He has covered the NBA and NFL since 2016, including on FanSided, Last Word on Sports and Clocker Sports. He is based in Villa Park, Illinois. Follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram: @JoshGBuck Learn more about Josh Buckhalter
