According to coach Billy Donovan, the six-to-eight week recovery timeline will start once Ball has the surgery, but doctors wanted Ball to take a week to strengthen and rehab the left knee in preparation.
Lonzo Ball is in good spirits and feels good about the medical plan for his left knee, according to Bulls coach Billy Donovan.
What the point guard isn’t, however, is on the recovery clock.
The six-to-eight weeks that were attached to Ball’s surgery won’t start until he actually has the surgery, and that might take another week before it goes down.
“They’re going to use about a week here to allow him to kind of almost rehab for surgery and do some strengthening things going into surgery,” Donovan said on Friday. “After he has the surgery that’s when the clock will start on him.’’
The other point that Donovan stressed was that while a tear in the meniscus has been talked about the last few days as the reason for the surgery, the bone bruise is the only thing that’s appeared as a definite in the imaging tests.
“Just talking to our medical people about it the consultation with our doctors, outside doctors, people involved in this, there’s just a feeling where I know there’s been a lot of talk about the meniscus but the only thing that’s really coming out on his image is you can clearly see the bone bruise,’’ Donovan said. “They just don’t have enough image of his meniscus or don’t know. What they really want to do is make sure he uses his time to do some strengthening, they want to do some preparation for surgery, so that’s a reason for the week. His clock really won’t start until he has that surgery.’’
Not the greatest news for the franchise, but still more than enough time to get Ball back and acclimated even if it goes the full two months. That scenario would get him back in mid-March and give him three-plus weeks of regular-season ball to find his rhythm heading into the playoffs.
What Donovan has until then, however, will be options.
There’s not one player that can run the point like Ball, push the tempo, play his defense and hit the open three, but there is a committee.
Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu have each shot well from outside, Dosunmu is proving to be an excellent defender, and most of the Bulls backcourt players understand the tempo they need to play with.
“They’re both competitive guys,’’ Donovan said of White and Dosunmu. “The number of minutes Ayo has played here since Lonzo went out has given him a wealth of experience, which is great for him. And I give Coby a lot of credit for having to come off that shoulder surgery, Covid, trying to find his footing … I give those two guys a lot of credit for their make-up and their mindset.’’
Zach attack
The other left knee concerning the Bulls these days was that of Zach LaVine, and the news continued to improve for the guard.
“He’s doing well,’’ Donovan said of LaVine. “He’s on the court, he’s working. He’s responded well to his treatment. He continues day-by-day to get better. I don’t know exactly his return date, maybe middle to late next week if things continue to track where they are.’’
LaVine will miss the remaining two games of this current three-game road trip, and could return on Wednesday when the Bulls host Toronto.
And the others?
Javonte Green (groin) was still dealing with reaching a certain point in his rehab process, only to have to back it down. Donovan did say there’s been progress, but no timetable has been offered up, while Derrick Jones Jr. was working on the treadmill to get back from his right knee injury.