Bulls may have to press pause on the Lonzo Ball knee rehab

PHOENIX – Billy Donovan chose his words carefully when discussing the current situation surrounding Lonzo Ball and his return from left knee surgery, but anyway the Bulls coach tried to spin it didn’t sound very optimistic.

“He has not responded,” Donovan said on Friday. “There’s no setbacks. It’s still the same thing. So I don’t want to act like . . . we mentioned the other day a couple steps forward, he goes back. He has not been able to do anything full speed. And anytime we get him close to that, there’s discomfort.”

What that means for the starting point guard is the medical staff was trying to reassess his rehabilitation process, and see if it’s something where they press pause on Ball or if they completely shut him down for the time being and let him “rest for a little bit and see if that helps.”

Ball hasn’t played since Jan. 14, when he was first diagnosed with a bone bruise. An MRI showed that the meniscus needed to be repaired as well, so he underwent surgery. The original timetable was six-to-eight weeks, but it currently stands at Week 7.

The problem, however, hasn’t been the meniscus. It’s been the bone bruise that Ball was originally diagnosed with.

“I think they’re trying to figure out how to ease that to basically take the next step,” Donovan said. “He hasn’t gone backwards. He just has not been able to go forward far enough to do the things he needs to do to be able to play.”

The calendar isn’t on Ball’s side, either.

If they do pause his activity for a bit, he still has to return to the process of sprinting and cutting pain-free, then get cleared for practice, find a rhythm, and start playing games to ramp up his minutes.

The Bulls only have 12 more games over the next three weeks, so it would be asking a lot for Ball to be even close to 100% by the playoffs.

Donovan was asked if there was a scenario where the team could just shut him down for the season, and responded, “I haven’t had that where they said that. I think everybody was optimistic that he could get back and play. But there’s no question with the current situation with him not being able to do things physically that he needs to do on the court – he’s not even at that place – I don’t know in talking to our medical people how long does that take to go from where he is today to there?”

Donovan said he last spoke to Ball before the team left for this current trip, and while he wouldn’t classify the guard as “frustrated,” he obviously was upset with not playing.

“I think they’re trying to figure it out, but I don’t get the sense he’s frustrated with anything,” Donovan said.

St. Patrick’s Day?

The news was much better on the Patrick Williams (left wrist) front, as Donovan wasn’t ruling out the power forward returning as soon as Monday, when the Bulls host Toronto.

Williams had been practicing with the Windy City Bulls the last few days, and there will be a discussion on Saturday on the next step. Williams could play with the G-League affiliate in a Sunday night game if he needs that, and then obviously sit the Toronto game and play at Milwaukee on Tuesday or he could just practice with the team Sunday and play in the back-to-back.

“[Williams will] certainly play a role in terms of what does he need?” Donovan said.

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