When the 26-year-old guard made his comeback to the Chicago Bulls lineup, first in the preseason and then in the 2024–25 season opener on October 23, it appeared as though Lonzo Ball’s injury luck had finally improved.
Ball has not played a regular season game since January 2022, which was more than two and a half seasons and more than 1,000 days ago.
Sadly for Chicago and its seasoned guard, the comeback was short-lived. Ball injured his right wrist playing against the Memphis Grizzlies on October 28 after just three games.
The Bulls now have an encouraging news about the comeback date of their point guard, almost a month later.
The Chicago Bulls have received encouraging updates regarding Lonzo Ball’s injury timeline.
Despite exceeding his 15-minute limit by playing 17 minutes and 59 seconds against the Grizzlies, things took a turn for the worse shortly after. However, the team has now shared some positive news about the return of the former No. 2 overall pick.
According to reports from Shams Charania and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Ball is expected to be available for tomorrow’s game on November 27, when the Bulls face the Orlando Magic on the road, the second game of their back-to-back.
Tonight, Chicago is set to play the Washington Wizards.
Both Saturday and Tuesday morning, Ball engaged in a “extensive” workout, according to Shelburne and Charania.
In his three games this season, the UCLA alum has been logging 15.7 minutes per game, contributing 4.7 points, 3.7 assists, and 2.7 rebounds on average.
Lonzo Ball, a former lottery pick and talented point guard for the Chicago Bulls, plans to return to action on Wednesday. Ball is anticipated to participate in Wednesday’s game between the Bulls and the Orlando Magic. Shams Charania of ESPN broke the news on social media on Tuesday. Ball’s wrist strain has kept him out of the lineup since October 28.
Washington — While most of his teammates were getting ready for the game against the Wizards, guard Lonzo Ball sat in the visiting locker room at Capital One Arena on Tuesday, still wearing street clothes.
It’s hoped that he’ll be participating in that tradition once more shortly, most likely on Wednesday night when the Bulls play the Magic in Orlando.
Ball underwent another round of exercises, including one-on-one contact to test his injured right wrist, according to coach Billy Donovan. If he doesn’t wake up in Florida feeling sore, he should be able to play.
“There’s a good chance he’ll play as long as there are no setbacks with his workout and whatever [the medical team] has to do,” Donovan stated. He has been shooting, catching, making one-on-one contact, and shooting off the dribble, among other things. “How is he feeling after those workouts?” has been the question. Previously, he had soreness after engaging in certain activities, which was the issue. It backed up for that reason.
Ball participated in three of the Bulls’ first four games before hurting his wrist in a backward tumble against the Grizzlies on October 28. Prior to this season, Ball had been out for more than two and a half years recovering from three operations on his left knee. He missed the past 15 games because the Bulls sat him because tests indicated that he might need season-ending surgery if he tried to play through the injury.
He was effective off the bench prior to his injury, completing each game with a plus or minus rating, including a plus-16 against the Grizzlies, despite being closely limited to 15–16 minutes each game.
The timing of the wrist injury couldn’t have been worse for a player seeking to rebuild his career in the last year of his contract.
“We’ll probably have to go back to where it was at the beginning of the year, where it’s probably going to be 15-16 minutes, four-minute stints at a time,” Donovan stated when speaking with medical. “He knows he’ll never be able to return to nights lasting 35 minutes, but there’s a good chance he can build up to maybe 20 to 22 [minutes].”
Additionally, back-to-backs are currently not an option.
Donovan stated, “He will be playing with some tape around his wrist.” He needs some time to get acclimated to shooting the ball and doing those things, and while I wouldn’t say he’s pain-free, he’s much, much better at managing it. His physical presence impressed me.
No improvement for Pat
After missing four games since being sidelined due to inflammation-related soreness in the same left foot where he underwent season-ending surgery last year, injured forward Patrick Williams was still only making free throws and shooting a little on Tuesday. After the weekend, Donovan had thought the Bulls would begin to increase his activity.
