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Lonzo Ball, Chicago Bulls

Throughout his injury struggles, the Chicago Bulls have stood by Lonzo Ball. The franchise gave the playmaking guard a two-year contract extension earlier this season, despite him missing the previous two years with a persistent knee issue.

During a recent appearance on Los Angeles Sparks star Cameron Brink’s “Straight to Cam” podcast, Ball praised the Bulls for the support they have shown him throughout his recovery process.

“If you have a good organization that is behind you and letting you heal, that’s huge,” Ball said. “Shoutout to the Bulls for that because when I was going through it, a lot of teams could have pushed me to the side and said that was whatever. But they stuck with me through the whole way…It’s never going to be like a super smooth process coming back. The work that you put in as a kid and all the repetition, I think that’s a pretty big thing. People who don’t know how to, it’s kind of like you’re just going through limbo land.”

Ball returned to Chicago’s rotation this season. He played in 35 contests, averaging 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists. If he can string a healthy year together, it will be interesting to see what level he can reach. Clearly, he can still be an impactful two-way guard off the bench.

Still, Ball must prove that he can remain healthy and isn’t going to be an injury risk year after year.

Bulls Could Have Made a Mistake Extending Ball

During a recent episode of the “CHGO Bulls Podcast,” Matt Peck and Will Gottlieb expressed concern at Chicago’s decision to give Ball a two-year $20 million extension.

“The Bulls roster building strategy should be to take on bad contracts for picks, to have multiple bites of the apple,” Gottlieb said. “To be able to bring in multiple players on rookie scale contracts to fill out your roster that have potential…I think ultimately, it was a mistake not to trade him (Ball).”

The only way Ball can quiet the critics is to prove that his injury issues are behind him. However, that’s not an easy task considering he was back on the injury report to end the season.

Extending Ball Could Cost Tre Jones

According to “Pat The Designer” of Locked on Bulls, extending Ball’s deal could wind up costing the franchise the opportunity to retain Tre Jones.

“I would love to have Tre Jones on this team,” Pat said. “I think he is literally the piece that you want to have if you’re the Chicago Bulls. But, instead, you decided to re-sign Lonzo Ball for $10 million for 35 games. That’s the Tre Jones spot to me…It just doesn’t make sense to bring him back. Unless you’re just going to say ‘we expect Lonzo to be out.’ But, then it’s like ‘you shouldn’t have paid Lonzo.’”

Jones is heading into unrestricted free agency this summer. He impressed for Billy Donovan’s team after joining at the Feb. 6 trade deadline as part of the Zach LaVine trade. Still, if he can stay healthy, Ball should be able to provide high-level contributions off the bench. Nevertheless, Jones doesn’t have the injury concerns that Ball does, and may have been the safer option to retain moing forward.