Chicago Bulls concerned about Lonzo Ball’s knee issues

The Chicago Bulls front office has expressed concerns about Lonzo Ball regarding his knee injury that forced him to miss 47 games this past season. NBCS Chicago’s David Kaplan discussed on his ESPN1000 show how the lack of progress has become an area of serious concern for the front office and coaching staff.

"“I am hearing that there are serious concerns within the front office of the Chicago Bulls that Lonzo Ball’s knee is NOT getting better,” Kaplan said. “They’ve been out for two weeks — he couldn’t play in that series. If they were starting the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday, he could not play.”"

Lonzo Ball suffered a small meniscus tear in January and also had a bone bruise in the same knee. He underwent surgery and the initial timetable for return was about two months but every time his conditioning was ramped up, he suffered setbacks which forced him to miss the end of the regular season and the entire playoff series versus the Milwaukee Bucks.

Ball told the media in his exit interview that he planned to see a specialist in the offseason that is outside of the Bulls organization.

The Chicago Bulls are worried about the long-term status of Lonzo Ball’s knee.

The goal is to revamp his workload in preparation for the next season. It remains to be seen how the knee is going to progress under a heavier routine and Ball said he would be open to another surgery if it was completely necessary.

The Bulls desperately missed Lonzo at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs. His defensive versatility and three-point shooting would have helped the Bulls a lot. The slump at the end of the regular season was in a large part because of the defensive struggles.

With Ball and Alex Caruso healthy early in the year, the Bulls were a top-five defensive team. After Ball and Caruso went down, the Bulls struggled to guard the perimeter without the “Lockdown Brothers.”

While having Ball during the playoffs would not have single-handedly won the Bulls the series, they could have made it a lot more competitive.

The Bulls lacked a knock-down shooter in the playoffs and struggled to contain Giannis Antetokounmpo while not leaving shooters open. Ball would have helped in both of those areas.

The Bulls still have good depth at the point guard position with names like Coby White, Ayo Dosunmo, and Alex Caruso on the roster but the Bulls paid Ball to be their starting point guard.

Hopefully, with a full offseason to heal up and condition, Ball can be ready by the start of next year but his lingering knee issues are clearly an area of concern for the team.