Billy Donovan still has hope that Lonzo Ball can return to the court this season.
The Chicago Bulls guard is going to restart the rehab process on his left knee with the goal of playing again at some point either in the regular season or the playoffs, Donovan said before their game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
Ball in January, and he hasn’t played since. He was initially set to miss up to eight weeks, and the team “pulled back” on his rehab over the past 10 days.
There isn’t much time left in the regular season — the Bulls have just five games left after their matchup with the Clippers — but Donovan hasn’t ruled anything out. They won’t, though, “go 0-to-60” to try and get Ball playing again.
“[Ball’s] the driver behind a lot of this, he really wants to play,” Donovan said, . “He wants to get back to playing. Obviously he’s also going to be smart in terms of how he’s feeling. He’s going to be realistic and the doctors are going to put their heads together. Certainly everyday that goes by and time that passes by, we’re moving closer and closer ’til the end of the season.”
Ball has averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 35 games so far this season, his first in Chicago after playing the last two with the Pelicans.
The Bulls, who were leading the Eastern Conference when Ball underwent his surgery, are hanging on to fifth in the standings. They are tied with the Raptors, and hold a two game lead over the Cavaliers, who hold the first play-in tournament spot.
Though he still has a ways to go in his rehab, Ball’s presence would undoubtedly help the Bulls in their playoff run.
“We’d have to see some significant progress that he’s made physically so that we feel good he can go in there and play and contribute and help,” Donovan said, . “But I haven’t gotten anything [from team doctors] close to shutting him down or anything like that.”
