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Lonzo Ball was once considered a potentially franchise-changing talent.
When the Los Angeles Lakers selected Ball with the second pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, it was with the belief that he would be a foundational piece for years to come. That didn’t happen, and Ball was eventually shipped off to New Orleans as part of a trade for superstar Anthony Davis.
Ball found his footing with the Pelicans, turning into an above-average starting point guard with good range and impressive defense. Ball’s 6-foot-9 wingspan helped him grow into one of the best on-ball (no pun intended) defenders in the league.
A sign-and-trade move sent Ball to Chicago prior to the 2021-22 season. Once there, he formed an impressive triumvirate with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine as the Bulls got off to one of the best starts in the Eastern Conference.
But then that all came undone.
Ball suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee in January that was supposed to only cost him six-to-eight weeks. Instead, the outlook has turned far, far worse.
Lonzo Ball Could Miss Entirety Of The 2022-23 NBA Season
Ball’s knee did not respond well to rehab following arthroscopic surgery and he did not return for the rest of the 2021-22 season.
In September, he underwent yet another surgery in hopes of fixing whatever had prevented him from recovering properly. That surgery was supposed to keep him out a few more months. But now it appears things have yet again taken a turn for the worst.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday on NBA Countdown that Ball is still experiencing pain during rehab and that there are “no guarantees” Ball plays at all this season.
“I think the hope is that, perhaps by the All-Star break in mid-February, they have a sense of whether Lonzo Ball is ready to come back and play for Chicago,” he said. “A lot of that may depend on where are the Bulls in the standings.”
Now, some of that appears to be the Bulls exercising caution. Chicago has limped to an 11-16 start to the season and could be sellers at the trade deadline.
But an otherwise routine surgery now appears to have cost Ball 1.5 years of his career. And it’s not like those things tend to improve with age.