Latest Lonzo Ball footage will have Chicago fans dreaming of 2024 return

The Chicago Bulls had high hopes when they acquired Lonzo Ball from the New Orleans Pelicans prior to the 2021-22 season. However, the talented guard has not been seen since that season because of a slew of knee injuries that he has suffered.

Ball has had three separate surgeries and it has gotten to the point that it’s difficult to see him coming back and playing in the NBA, particularly with the Bulls. However, he has been working out and he was seen running and jumping in a recent video.

He gets up high enough in the highlight, but it is clear he is not going at full speed yet.

Ball discussed his progress on a recent podcast of “What an Experience,” talking about what he has to do to continue to make progress.

“It’s coming along, man. Week by week,” Ball said. “It’s improving, so that’s all I can ask for. Still not where I want it to be. Out of 100 (percent), I’d say I’m about 70 (percent). Good enough to play, but it could still get better. I still got a long summer ahead of me. But definitely looking forward to the future.”

While the Bulls haven’t gotten much return from Ball since he was acquired from the Pelicans, they saw enough from him in his first year to know that he can bring quite a bit of value to the team.

Ball is going into the final year of the four-year deal he gained with the Bulls in the summer of 2021. He picked up his player option worth $21.3 million on the last year of his contract in May.

Ball had promising numbers before his knee injury

Ball was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second pick of the 2017 NBA Draft after playing his college basketball at UCLA.

He averaged 10.2 point in his rookie season while handing out 7.2 assists and grabbing 6.9 rebounds per game. Ball played one more season with the Lakers before he was traded to the Pelicans. He averaged 11.8 points in 2019-20 with 7.0 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game in 2019-20.

Ball had his best season in 2020-21 as he averaged 14.6 points while connecting on 48.2 percent of his shots from inside the arc and 37.8 percent of his three-point attempts. He also added 5.7 assists per game.

Lonzo Ball played 35 games for the Bulls in 2021-22 before his knee injury. He averaged 13.0 points and 5.1 assists per game. The Bulls are hoping he can regain his health and his form as they prepare for the 2024-25 season.

Bulls president Arturas Karnisovas said the team is following Ball’s progress this summer. “We’re just going to wait and see his progression the next couple of months,” Karnisovas said. “He’s progressing well. Everything is looking with no setbacks. So we’ll see where he’s at in a couple of months.”