Are there bigger plans in play this year for Bulls guard Lonzo Ball?
Wednesday was the day to celebrate Lonzo Ball after his long journey to return to an NBA game for the first time in 1,006 days.
Thursday was the time to start sorting out the reality of the situation for the point guard.
The best news the Bulls could offer up about Ball was the left knee didn’t keep him out of the light practice following his 15-plus minutes of action the night before, and he remained on schedule to play in the preseason finale Friday against the visiting Cavaliers.
That milestone was important for the coaching staff as they start mapping out the rotation for the regular season, but it was even more important for Ball and his teammates.
Want to know how popular Ball is with his teammates? Check out the video the team released of the locker-room revelry immediately after Ball scored 10 points in the win over the Timberwolves.
First, it was Coby White presenting Ball with a game ball, telling the locker room, “Zo’s back, man. So you know it’s a blessing to be part of his journey. You know a lot of us being here through it all seeing the highs and lows, this was a helluva night for him. Here is the game ball, brother.”
Then it was Zach LaVine’s turn, holding up a Ball jersey No. 2 signed by everyone.“Just like Coby said, I respect you more than anything because of what you’ve been through,” LaVine said. “We love you, care about you, glad to see you back.”
Few thought this heart-warming celebration would happen when Ball first underwent a third left knee surgery to completely replace his cartilage, basically giving him an entirely new knee. No professional athlete has made a comeback from such a procedure.
So now what?
That’s the question both in the short term and in the long term.
The team announced Thursday morning that Onuralp Bitim and Kenneth Lofton Jr. were waived, leaving the final roster spot for either Talen Horton-Tucker or E.J. Liddell. But no matter who wins it, the Bulls once again will remain very guard-heavy.
Josh Giddey, LaVine and White will start, while Ayo Dosunmu will be one of the first backcourt options off the bench. Patrick Williams and Nikola Vucevic are the frontcourt starters. Coach Billy Donovan undoubtedly will play Jalen Smith and rookie Matas Buzelis off the bench, so if Ball is going to stay on his 16-minute restriction for the early part of the year, that puts the rotation at nine.
Donovan prefers a nine-man rotation, but he likely will stretch it to 10 with Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips and possibly Horton-Tucker fighting for that one last rotation spot. It likely will be between Terry and Phillips because of the youth movement, with Phillips having the slight edge with his versatility and rebounding ability.
Jevon Carter, Torrey Craig, Chris Duarte and Horton-Tucker will be the veteran towel-wavers, waiting for an opportunity. That’s why it remains important for executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas to move pieces off of this roster.
Yes, LaVine is 1A and 1B on that priority list, followed by Vucevic if Karnisovas has his way.
But what about Ball? He not only scored 10 points and showed off his three-point shot in his light night of work, but also was surprisingly strong on defense — a concern for Donovan going into the game.
If he can stretch out his restrictions to the 22-minute mark, keep up the maintenance on the knee so he only needs to stay out of back-to-backs, then all of a sudden his expiring contract becomes very valuable for a playoff team.
A conversation for another day? No doubt. But it better be a question the Bulls are considering.