Chicago Bulls front office head Artūras Karnišovas spoke to the media Thursday night after the 2023 NBA Draft. Chicago originally did not have a pick in the event before acquiring the 35th pick and selecting Tennessee forward Julian Phillips.
However, the press conference covered a lot more than that one pick. Specifically, Karnišovas’ comments regarding injured guard Lonzo Ball who missed the entire 2022-23 season due to a torn meniscus in his left knee were interesting. The update was not good news.
“Going into the offseason, I think our expectation is that he’s not coming back next season. And he’s going to continue on his recovery,” Karnišovas told reporters. “If he comes back, it would be great. But we’re just going to treat this offseason and getting ready for the season that he’s not going to be back next season.”
It was reported during the spring that the Bulls don’t believe that Ball will ever play again given the issues with his recovery from the aforementioned injury.
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Ball, 25 was acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans in a sign-and-trade during the summer of 2021. He only suited up for 35 games in his first season with the team. In fact, the former No. 2 overall pick of the Los Angeles Lakers has played in all of 252 games across six seasons (average of 42 per season). It’s a highly unfortunate situation for Lonzo Ball.
For the Chicago Bulls, this update comes with the team facing an uncertain future. All-Star guard Zach LaVine is on the trade block. Fellow wing DeMar DeRozan has one more year on his current deal. Nikola Vucevic is set to hit NBA free agency. Meanwhile, point guard Coby White is a restricted free agent.