Bulls' Lonzo Ball to have third knee surgery, could miss most of next season
Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball will have a third surgery on his left knee and could miss the entirety of the 2023-24 season, according to The Athletic senior NBA insider Shams Charania.
Ball has not played since Jan. 14, 2022, and had already been ruled out for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
After first undergoing arthroscopic surgery to address what at the time was called a small meniscus tear in January 2022, Ball never returned last season following the injury and had an additional surgery eight months later in September for the same meniscus tear.
Back in September, Ball was expected to be out for "at least a few months" with January being earmarked as the potential return date for the former No. 2 overall pick.
However, when the Bulls would give updates on the star guard, it didn't sound like he was making any forward progress toward a return.
The Bulls shut down Ball in February, announcing he wouldn't return this season, just weeks after head coach Billy Donovan had said Ball was "nowhere near" a return to the court.
This entire situation has just been unfortunate for both Ball and the Bulls. When healthy last season, Chicago was one of the most entertaining and successful teams to watch, and that was because of Ball's presence.
His role as the floor general on offense, setting up both DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine worked wonders for Chicago, and his 3-point shooting was at a career-high 42.3 percent on over seven attempts a night. He was an electrifying presence on Chicago's offense, and his defense was just as good, perhaps even better than what he offered offensively.
When Ball was on the floor, the Bulls allowed 8.6 points fewer per possession compared to when he sat. That point differential ranked in the 96th percentile last season before he got hurt, and once he was sidelined Chicago's defense suffered significantly. The defensive tandem he created with Alex Caruso in the backcourt was arguably the best in the league, and Ball's disruptive nature as a defender both on and off the ball rubbed off on teammates like LaVine and DeRozan to step up their game on that end of the floor.
Not having Ball in the lineup this season has shown how vital he is to Chicago's offense, as the team is currently 31-37, placing them 11th in the Eastern Conference. That's a far cry from the 46-36 record the Bulls finished with last season, which landed them the No. 6 spot in the East going into the playoffs. In Ball's absence, Chicago hasn't found an adequate starting point guard to replace him, despite the best efforts from Ayo Dosunmu, Alex Caruso, and Patrick Beverley, who was acquired after Ball was ruled out for the season. The addition of Goran Dragic in free agency was supposed to help with Ball's absence at the start of the season, but he was released after the Bulls signed Beverley.
As for Ball, Charnia reports the newest surgery is expected to sideline him for most of next season, but "the sides are optimistic of the procedure reviving Ball's career."