CHICAGO (670 The Score) — The Bulls are working under the expectation that injury-plagued guard Lonzo Ball won't return in the 2023-'24 season, executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said Thursday night.
In March, Ball had a cartilage transplant in his left knee, which marked the third operation on that knee in a 14-month span. He missed all of last season and hasn't played for the Bulls since January 2022 due to devastating knee problems that have left his professional career in peril.
"He's recovering nicely," Karnisovas said in a press conference after the NBA Draft concluded. "I think last month, he got off the crutches and he's recovering, doing his rehab. Everything is going well. Going into the offseason, I think our expectation is that he's not coming back next season and that he's going to continue on his recovery. If he comes back, it would be great. But we're just going to treat this offseason and getting ready for the season like he's not coming back next season."
Do the Bulls still have hope that Ball will ever suit up for them again?
"Our hope is, eventually, you're going to see him on the basketball court," Karnisovas said. "But I do not think he's going to be back next season."
Ball is halfway through a four-year, $80-million contract with the Bulls. Despite his prolonged unavailability, waiving-and-stretching his contract isn't on the table at this time, Karnisovas said. The Bulls could also apply for a disabled player exception next season for Ball, which if granted by the league would give them around $10 million to use to add a player in the final season of his contract.
"We'll meet up as a group and decide what we're going to do," Karnisovas said of that possibility.
Whatever the mechanics of it are, the Bulls intend to address the point guard position as they come off a 40-42 season in which they were eliminated in the play-in tournament.
"We're going to look at this free agency," Karnisovas said. "We have a lot of free agents, and we're going to address shooting, address the lead position.
"Once free agency starts, I'm sure this information is going to come out and we'll see what we have. But there's a lot of work to do. We have to get better, and we're going to address that."
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
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