Chicago Bulls: Lonzo Ball situation yet another blunder for front office

A little over a year ago, the Chicago Bulls looked like they could be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

Boy, we have come a long way since then. Who knew Lonzo Ball was going to be the key to this core? Since going down with an injury in January of 2022, Ball has not played a game and the Bulls have looked like a totally different team.

Recently, we were given an update on Ball’s status prior to All Star Weekend, with NBC Sports’ KC Johnson saying that it’s a “foregone conclusion” that Ball will miss the remainder of this season due to his ailing knee.

There has been little progress for months now, with Ball infamously telling the media it hurt just to walk up stairs in August of 2022. From that moment, it seemed realistic to question whether Ball would ever get back on the court again. And, unfortunately, this is becoming just one more stain on the window of the office of Arturas Karnisovas.

The Chicago Bulls’ front office once looked promising, but Lonzo Ball’s situation is now the third major question mark of their past year

Now, of course it would be silly to make this a “blame game” type of thing. Nobody could have predicted Ball’s injury, nor this strenuous rehab process. But, the situation in and of itself is not a good one.

Aside from the Ball injury, this front office also has to answer for handing Billy Donovan an extension prior to this season; and keeping it under the radar, too. That was an odd decision by Karnisovas and company, especially not allowing it to become public knowledge for quite a while.

Now, Donovan looks as though the league has simply passed him by. Not to mention, he isn’t exactly getting along with Zach LaVine, which brings us to the third blunder of the past year.

Re-signing LaVine seemed like a necessary move, but for the amount of money the Bulls are paying him, that contract looks abysmal at this point. LaVine’s attitude and rumored rift between he and the rest of the team (taking Donovan’s side), combined with the fact that his play has been sporadic, looks pretty gross right about now.

The fact of the matter is, the Bulls are going to have to find a trade partner for LaVine this summer and possibly even move on from Ball if the injury doesn’t seem to be improving. If that’s the case, they are signing themselves up for one more rebuild. But at this point, is anyone surprised?