The Bulls are playing the long game with Lonzo Ball and his health, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
A report surfaced on Friday that Ball is expected to miss training camp and won’t be ready to go for the season opener.
However, Ball’s situation may not be as ominous as that sounds, Johnson writes. The team has worked in concert with Ball’s specialists this offseason and remain confident his left knee will continue to improve. The knee itself is reportedly structurally sound but the bone bruise he suffered, which occurred before his meniscus tear in January, is what continues to gives Ball pain.
With Goran Dragić, Coby White, Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu and rookie Dalen Terry on the roster, Chicago has enough depth to take a cautious approach with Ball.
We have more on the Bulls:
- The team is banking on a big jump from Patrick Williams, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Williams must pump up his scoring and rebounding numbers while hounding the opposing team’s best forward on the defensive end. The No. 4 pick in the 2020 draft, who missed most of last season due to a wrist injury, has been busy this offseason playing in Pro-Ams and some pick-up games against NBA stars.
- Injuries took a toll on the team last season, Caruso admits in an interview with Ethan Fuller of Basketball News. “Obviously, we have a little bit of bad luck with injuries last year. That doesn’t help,” Caruso said. “I think in the beginning of the year, we were first in the East, we had a great defensive rating [and the] offense was doing everything they needed to do as far as moving the ball, creating open shots. And then, through a little bit of adversity in the year, we dropped a little bit of discipline in certain areas of the game.
- In the same piece, Caruso praises Dosunmu for the way he held his own defensively in his rookie campaign. “Ayo was, basically all last year, just playing off the feel,” Caruso said. “Your first year in the league, you don’t understand concepts really. You don’t understand coverages. You’re seeing guys play, and you’re playing against guys for the first time. You’re seeing their best moves for the first time; they’re probably going to beat you most of the time. So for him to be able to compete the way he did last year on defense is a great sign for a guy in his first year.”
Think people are underestimating the Bulls. Ball has to play this yr and players have to hold up (injuries). I see a good deep team. I agree Williams taking a leap forward is key. Last yr proved to players they can compete. So I see them as taking a major step forward. This is a good team. Ball and Williams stepping up is a big key for me.
The only question mark is the PF position and if Patrick can play it or not.
The Bulls have a solid team with some good depth pieces and if White can just be that off the bench scorer then the Bulls have a team that can play if the injuries do not take out LaVine and company like last year.
Heck, Ball isn’t as important as people think and AC and Ayo the Bulls have a solid rotation at PG.
Ball is as important as people think. The Bulls know that too and the same ownership that continually said Derrick Rose could play any day now for almost 2 years has zero credibility. KC has the Bulls’ paycheck so far down his throat that it is emerging at the other end with these continual propagandistic “updates” on Lonzo’s knee. This ownership dusted off the Bulls’ injury excuses this season for their baseball team, the White Sox. It appears that the ownership has incompetent doctors and trainers who cannot consistently keep their highly paid players in games instead of rehab.
So, me not buying season tix this year. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
This Bulls team as constructed is a complete damn mess.
The guard rotation is a mess with Lonzo Ball, I’d send LaVine and Ball to LA for Westbrook and Austin Reeves and one of those two firsts the Lakers are purportedly willing to part with.
And sign DeMarcus Cousins already so you can trade Vucevic at the deadline, that frees up the Bulls for FA in ’23 we’re they can possibly right the ship before De’Rozan’s time is up.
someone drank the wrong Kool aid. I mean I get where you are coming from, but Westbrook is not, nor will he ever be, the answer.
Mr Paxton’s ghost, those types of moves are in our rear view mirror. Bulls GM and team won’t be making silly moves like that.
Someone plays 2K too much and doesn’t watch basketball
BWMiller-Yeah, Ok.That seems to be such a fair trade.
No,Tht Wouldn’t Work 4 The BULLS, What The BULLS R Working W/Now Should B Sufficient If They Stay Healthy. A Championship Is Not Promised U Have 2 B Healthy & Strong
2 Earn It & W/In Ur Overall Team Performances, From The Frt Office 2 The Court. Of Course W/The Particular Players & The BULLS R Not Far Away From Tht. GO BULLS
That’s probably one of if not the worst trade proposal I have ever seen. 1 first rounder and Westbrook and Reeves??? Really Ball is better than Westbrook right now. Lavine is an All Star and is better than Mitchell and Utah got a couple starters that are better than your proposal and 3 first rounders and swaps.
Ball is probably the best point guard on the team and LaVine is an all-star shooting guard, but LaVine is set in a 5yr 220M dollar contract and Ball has 3yr and 60M left on his deal, that’s approximately 60M annual between the two of them.
Vucevic is expiring after ’23, the Bulls are 1.7M under the lux tax, and will be needing to extend Pat Williams and possibly Coby White.
If you trade for Westbrook, you get his expiring contract, and what your left with in ’23 is DeRozan, Drummond, Ayo and Pat Williams and a lot of cap space to fill out the roster.
You have Coby White and Caruso, you can sign DeMarcus Cousins cheap. I’d think you could get Westbrook to re-up on a competitive deal, and fill out the roster from there in FA.
Westbrook
White
DeRozan
Williams
Cousins
Ayo
Caruso
Drummond
Reeves
Terry
Siminovic
Youd upgrade at point with westbrook, you’d be asking Coby White to step in for LaVine which he can do and DeRozan is your primary option on offense.
Plus you have cap space to add a FA or two.
So you think the Bulls should trade a guy that they just signed to a Supermax contract for an expiring contract so they can sign a guy to a Supermax contract next season?
Son, please have your doctor adjust your medication.
Eh, it’s a tough racket, I guess I see the Bulls being better off with Westbrook running point and a guard rotation of Dragic, Ayo and White than with LaVine and Ball as the starting backcourt, both from the standpoint of fit and payroll.
I think Cousins is every bit the player that Vucevic is so why not sign Cousins to a similar deal that you gave Andre Drummond and work to trade Vucevic for some draft capital.
Be nice when the season starts.
Maybe Westbrook 5 years ago would make it a decent trade. Westbrook is washed up. He is so inefficient now when it comes to offense. No one will trade for him without a first round pick attached to him and giving really nothing in return yet you propose us giving away an All Star player for him and Ball who is better thank Westbrook and Reeves combined right now lol…. That’s crazy talk we could get so much more for Lavine if we traded him. Also White is no where near Lavine lol… White is our Westbrook but can shoot a lot better from deep and costs way less.
I hear what you are saying, but I think Westbrook is way overvalued. His best years are way behind him. Is his expiring contract interesting yes, but maybe for a low first round draft choice.
White can shoot a little bit, he’s 6’5 and still young, he could add some strength at some point and really turn into a nice player.
Westbrook is only 33, he has a few more 20, 10 and 10 seasons in him if he is the right situation, and he should sign a competitive deal after the debacle in LA. I believe it’s a good fit with the Bulls and I feel like LaVine is a good fit with the Lakers.
The trade to make for both teams is
LaVine
Ball
Vucevic
Caruso
-for-
Westbrook
Davis
Reeves
The salaries offset, the Bulls get Davis’ max contract for three seasons and open up the guard rotation for their young players, in ’23 the Bulls can work to resign Westbrook on a team friendly deal, and extend Coby White and Pat Will. Sign Cousins to a two year deal and reunite Davis and Cousins, they played well together in New Orleans, and with DeRozan and Westbrook, White and Pat Will, and the most underrated big in the NBA Andre Drummond, the Bulls would have a legit shot at a title.
The Lakers would add the shooters they desperately need in Ball and LaVine, and a nice defender to their guard rotation in Caruso. Vucevic can fill AD’s shoes in LA with LeBron running point.
No need for any picks to be traded, the trade is fair and really suits both teams quite well to be honest. Both teams get better.
But signing Cousins is the key for the Bulls. And if the Bulls don’t sign him, LA should, but I’m a Bulls fan so I’d like to see the Bulls sign him.
C’mon BW, how about this trade
LeBron
Davis
For
A conditional second round draft pick. The Condition is that they both have to start for the East for the All-Star game.
Sounds ridiculous? So does your proposal.
I personally wouldn’t do this trade. Again Westbrook is on the decline. He was great back when he played for OKC but now he is way to inefficient. The whole Davis for Lavine is way too risky. Davis is a great player when healthy but the guy is never healthy. Yes Lavine has dealt with injuries but nowhere near Davis. Furthermore we have seen Lavine expand his game every year. Lakers would take this deal in a heart beat because it is such one sided. I would be fine trading Ball due to his injury issues but wouldn’t probably work with Lakers. Your trade proposal is for older or injury prone players except for Reeves, for younger players who are more in their prime and are for the most part superior players due to age, availability, and overall talent when you combine your trade proposal. We are not desperate we just made the playoffs and have ascending young players and would like to see where they are at this year in their development.
Also compete for a title??? The team would regress unless you actually believe Derozan is better than James??? Lakers couldn’t even make the playoffs with this squad because they can’t stay healthy. Players best asset is availability and this squad doesn’t have that. The Lakers are literally stuck in purgatory and I have zero interest in trading places with them. Cousins is maybe an end of bench signing again injuries have made him practically irrelevant.