The Chicago Bulls remain optimistic that their point guard Lonzo Ball will return to the NBA hardwood at some point in the 2024-25 season after over two years out with injury.
Should his return come this season, then league insider Mark Medina believes it will be a huge boost for this Bulls roster that has been stuck in mediocrity for a number of years, and is effectively in the midst of a rebuilding phase.
It was widely expected that the Bulls would be active in the 2024 summer off-season, but perhaps what was unexpected was the transactions they would conduct.
Arguably, one of the biggest moves of the entire off-season was the trade between Chicago and the Oklahoma City Thunder which essentially featured a straight swap deal of guards Josh Giddey and Alex Caruso .
While the 21-year-old has been touted as a dark horse candidate for the Most Improved Player award next summer, that has also been boosted by his Olympics performances with Team Australia, there is some argument to be made that the Bulls gave up a premier perimeter defender for little in return, especially with the Thunder’s war chest of draft picks to their name.
Not only that, but the move brought clarity about DeMar DeRozan ’s future, and it wasn’t with Chicago.
As such, the Bulls accommodated his request for a move away in free agency, by facilitating a sign-and-trade deal to the Sacramento Kings, with the veteran now on a playoff contender for the first time in years.
But the Bulls’ leading trade candidate – which stems back to last season – Zach LaVine , is still on the roster, as is Nikola Vucevic, with it looking more likely than ever that both will remain on the team to start the 2024-25 campaign.
Chicago did put a big price tag around the two-time All-Star’s neck last season, but after another year mired by injury, they may now have to concede that they will not get what they are asking for, and may even have to lower their asking price further for a team to ultimately consider a deal.
The Bulls still, of course, also have Lonzo Ball on the roster, who hasn’t featured in over two years after dealing with injury setbacks, with the Giddey deal potentially signaling that they are ready to move on from him.
But, as it stands, Ball has reportedly suffering no new setbacks, and has even undergone five-on-five contact for the first time since his initial knee injury. Thus, it would appear that a return to the court next season isn’t too far away, with the only question remaining of whether it will be for the Bulls or not.
Obviously, there is still not yet a definitive time frame for his return, but providing that he does feature at some point next season, Medina believes that Ball will give the Bulls another boost with his return due to how good he is as a passer and defender.
However, having only just returned to five-on-five action, there is still a lot to do before he does (hopefully) make his return.
“Assuming, and this is an assumption because of his injury history, but if he’s able to get back to where he was before, he’s going to be huge plus, because he’s a great passer, great team guy, great defender.
His shot is always a work in progress, but he has great traditional point-guard skills, so it is a net positive. It is a step in the right direction that he is doing five-on-five workouts, but this is just a turning point.
It’s not the end of the marathon yet. So, a lot of work has to be done before we can even assess, what his role is going to be and what his value could be.”