As Lonzo Ball continues rehab, Bulls can only express faint hope about a potential return to action

(670 The Score) The Bulls remain unsure if guard Lonzo Ball can get healthy enough to return to action next season as he continues a last-ditch effort to save his career.

The 26-year-old Ball continues to rehab his injured left knee, on which he underwent a cartilage transplant last March. Speaking to reporters Thursday for the first time since October, executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas was asked if he expected Ball to return to action next season.

His answer was accompanied by faint hope more so than conviction.

“That’s in a perfect world, right – you can see Zo back on the basketball court,” Karnisovas said. “And he’s working extremely hard right now. So hopefully that happens and that’s a reality.”

Ball underwent three left knee surgeries between January 2022 and March 2023. He missed all of the 2022-’23 season, will miss all of this one and hasn’t played in a game since Jan. 14, 2022.

While Ball himself and the Bulls have expressed optimism about how his rehab is progressing these days, he hasn’t begun running or cutting at full speed. Those are the major hurdles that he must clear to have any chance of returning to the court at game speed, and he’ll have to do so while being pain-free.

Earlier this week, Ball got shots up at the Advocate Center while undergoing work with limited movement. Ball has been jogging and doing agility work as well, coach Billy Donovan recently told reporters.

Ball is in the third season of a four-year, $80-million deal that he inked in summer 2021, when the Bulls landed him in a sign-and-trade deal with the Pelicans. Ball was the catalyst of the Bulls’ success in the first half of the 2021-’22 season before he was hurt, averaging 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 42.3% from 3-point range.

If Ball can’t play again next season, the Bulls will have the option of applying for a career-ending injury provision that would clear his salary from their books if an independent medical panel ruled in their favor. The Bulls were granted a $10.2-million disabled player exception this season for Ball’s absence, but they haven’t used it.

Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund .