Tag: lonzo ball

Bulls guard Lonzo Ball will not return to play this season

On behalf of Chicago Bulls Executive Vice President – Basketball Operations Artūras Karnišovas:

“Despite making significant increases in strength and function over the past several months, Bulls guard Lonzo Ball continues to experience performance limiting discomfort during participation in high level basketball-related activities. Considering the required time period to achieve the necessary level of fitness to return-to-play and the current stage of the NBA season, Ball will not return this season. The focus for Ball will continue to be on the resolution of his discomfort and a full return for the 2023-24 season.”

Bulls guard Lonzo Ball will not play again this season

Via the Chicago Sun-Times:

The Bulls officially ruled point guard Lonzo Ball out for the remainder of the season on Wednesday morning, including any sort of hope for the playoffs, focusing on getting his left knee right for the 2022-23 season.

The Sun-Times reported on Tuesday that this news was coming for Ball, after he was experiencing pain in the knee during a morning rehab workout.

And per ESPN.com, “Ball, who has not played since Jan. 14, had surgery on his left knee on Jan. 28 to repair a slight meniscus tear. The team said he is still experiencing pain “with high-level physical activity.”

Bulls guard Lonzo Ball reportedly may need knee surgery

The Bulls are having a fantastic season, but they could soon face a temporary setback. Via the ESPN.com:

Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball may need arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for a meniscus tear, and a decision on the procedure is expected to come this week, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The scope would sideline Ball for four to six weeks, sources said.

The Bulls and Ball’s agent — Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul — are discussing options with doctors, but the procedure looms if a recent change in nonsurgical treatment won’t allow Ball to play through what’s described as a slight meniscus tear, sources said.

The Bulls are 28-15 this season, which is the best record in the Eastern conference.

Their leading scorers so far in 2021-22 are DeMar DeRozan at 25.7 ppg, Zach LaVine at 24.9 ppg, and Nikola Vucevic at 16.3 ppg.

Ball this season is averaging 13.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 5.1 apg.

Pelicans trade Lonzo Ball to Bulls

The New Orleans Pelicans have acquired guard Tomáš Satoranský, guard Garrett Temple, a 2024 second round pick and cash considerations from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for guard Lonzo Ball.

“Tomáš and Garrett will bring incredible veteran presence, feel and versatility to both sides of the floor for our lineup,” said Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin. “Both have also distinguished themselves as teammates and leaders in their communities. We couldn’t be happier to welcome them to New Orleans.”

Satoranský, 6-7, 210, appeared in 55 games (18 starts) for the Bulls last season and averaged 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 22.5 minutes per game. Originally drafted 32nd overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, Satoranský has appeared in 333 career games (169 starts) over five seasons with Washington and Chicago, averaging 7.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 23.2 minutes per contest.

Temple, 6-5, 195, who is entering his 12th NBA season, has appeared in 632 career games (272 starts), averaging 6.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 21.7 minutes per contest. The LSU product appeared in 56 games (25 starts) for Chicago last season and averaged 7.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 27.3 minutes per game.

“In his two seasons with us, Lonzo has had a profound impact on this team and upon this community,” added Griffin. “His growth and development as a player have been evident and his charitable works, while largely unheralded, have been every bit as impressive. We appreciate his total contributions to the Pelicans’ family and wish him every success moving forward.”

Ball, 6-6, 190, appeared in 118 games (109 starts) over the last two seasons with the Pelicans, averaging 13.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game. Originally drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Ball has appeared in 217 career games (204 starts) over the last four seasons with the Lakers and Pelicans, holding averages of 11.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.

LaVar Ball says he hopes Pelicans trade Lonzo Ball

LaVar Ball hasn’t been heard from much this season, but with the NBA trade deadline approaching he has come out with his latest headline-snatching quotes. Via the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

The NBA trade deadline is exactly one week away, and the New Orleans Pelicans have a difficult decision to make about the future of their backcourt.

Lonzo Ball is in the final season of his rookie deal. New Orleans must decide if it wants to cut bait on the improving but inconsistent 23-year-old, or hold onto him and enter restricted free agency, where it would have to reward him with a new deal or risk losing him for nothing.

In an appearance on ESPN radio in Los Angeles on Thursday, LaVar Ball, the outspoken patriarch of one of America’s most well-known basketball-playing families, said he hopes his oldest son gets moved.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do,” LaVar said. “I hope he gets traded, though. Here’s the thing. I don’t like watching him play like he plays.”

The Pelicans are 17-23 this season, which ties them with the rebuilding Thunder for the 11th best record in the Western conference. A disappointing season so far.

They’re being led in scoring by Zion Williamson at 25.6 points per game, Brandon Ingram at 23.9 ppg, then Ball at 14.2 ppg.

For the season, Ball is averaging 4.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game, shooting 42.6% FG and 38.9% from three-point range.

LaMelo Ball outplays brother Lonzo in their first NBA game against each other

It was Ball brother against Ball brother on Friday, as the Hornets beat the Pelicans 118-110. with Lonzo Ball starting for the Pelicans and rookie LaMelo Ball coming off the bench for the Hornets, here’s what went down, via the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

LaMelo Ball checked in midway through the first quarter and immediately started guarding Lonzo Ball. In their first game against each other at the NBA level, the brothers were matched up on one another a fair amount. Surprisingly, LaMelo won Round 1 handily. He had 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists — a near triple-double. Lonzo had a five-point, three-assist dud.

Nine games into the season, Lonzo doesn’t look like a much different player than he was last year. He is a capable defender, and he makes multiple gorgeous passes every night. He also remains wildly inconsistent, is hesitant to drive the basketball into the paint, and can’t get to the free-throw line.

Remember New Orleans’ opening-night win in Tampa, when Ball attempted six free throws? In the 272 minutes he’s played since then, he’s attempted four free throws. In that same stretch of games, Nicolo Melli has attempted four free throws in 47 minutes, and Willy Hernangomez has attempted four free throws in seven minutes. Ball’s unwillingness to try shots at the rim further restricts the Pelicans in the half court, where they already don’t have much shooting to begin with.

LaMelo is still brand new to the league but is already flashing some very big-time talent.

Chemistry developed quickly between Lonzo Ball and Zion Williamson

Pelicans star rookie Zion Williamson’s career debut was delayed due to injury, but once he got started, buckets came quickly. So did rebounds. And dunks. Especially alley-oops, many coming from passes thrown by point guard Lonzo Ball. The two players developed quick chemistry and are fun to watch play together. Here’s the New Orleans Times-Picayune on it:

Ball and Williamson are a threat to connect at any time. It doesn’t matter how early it is in the shot clock or how far away they are from each other. During the Pelicans’ 120-107 win over the Timberwolves on March 8, their final game before play paused indefinitely, Ball found Williamson for a three-quarters court and a half-court alley-oop in a span of a little more than one minute.

In the 19 games Ball and Williamson have played together, these home run plays have become routine. Ball has already found Williamson for a basket 12 times from behind half court. They are like a backyard football duo who’ve made an agreement to go long whenever possible.

“It’s crazy,” Williamson said after a Feb. 28 win over Cleveland. “Right before the game, I looked at Lonzo and said, ‘I’m just letting you know I’m running. If you throw it, I’m going to catch it.’ He took that literally. He started bombing them.”

Chemistry between Lonzo and Zion will be a fun thing to watch when NBA action eventually resumes.

Lonzo Ball shines, Pelicans win 4th straight game

The Pelicans on Sunday faced a badly-injured Rockets team that was without James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Clint Capela. But no win is automatic in the NBA. Work must still be put in. But the Pelicans have a bit of a flow lately and handled business. Here’s the New Orleans Times Picayune reporting:

The Rockets were forced to insert Austin Rivers and Eric Gordon into the starting lineup and dust off other little-used pieces. Somehow, their skeleton crew still set off fireworks.

Houston hit 15 3-pointers, but New Orleans countered with 18 makes of its own from behind the arc to pull out a 127-112 win. A sizzling Lonzo Ball hit seven 3s, a new career high, and E’Twaun Moore scored 25 points off the bench as the Pelicans won their fourth game in a row.

New Orleans, which outscored Houston 41-19 in the fourth quarter, has ripped off five wins in six games. It is now just 3½ games back of the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Ball played perhaps his best all-around game in a Pelicans uniform, finishing with 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

For much of the season, the story of the Pelicans has just been wait-and-see until Zion Williamson is eventually healthy enough to make his NBA regular season career debut. And yes, that’s still the big season-long picture, but lately, New Orleans is playing solid basketball.

Lonzo Ball takes big step forward in practice

The Lakers underwent big-time changes this summer, adding LeBron James and an interesting cast of supporting players, but the core of the team aside from James remains the youth: Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball. While LeBron tends to play the role of a point-forward, or rather a do-everything forward, Ball’s best attribute is still his passing. It’ll be fascinating to see how the two co-exist on the floor. But before all of that, Ball must regain full health, and yesterday he took a solid step in that direction, per the Daily Breeze:

By the end of Thursday’s training camp session, Lonzo Ball felt fatigued. But he was more focused on what he didn’t feel.

Pain.

For the first time this season, Ball, the 20-year-old second-year point guard felt healthy enough to go through an entire practice. Since a knee injury that ended his rookie year prematurely and led to offseason surgery for a torn meniscus, Ball has been sidelined and limited from full competition.

While he’s not likely to take the floor in Sunday’s preseason opener against the Denver Nuggets, getting back into a full practice felt like a significant step in the right direction after months of restrictions.

“Did the whole practice. Did everything today,” he said. “Obviously I was a little tired but had to get back.”

Full article

Lakers should have Lonzo Ball back right after All-Star break

The 23-32 Lakers, now with Isaiah Thomas in uniform, look forward to getting Lonzo Ball back as soon as possible. How much they’ll actually play together remains to be seen, but that’s a whole other discussion. Step one is just to get Lonzo back in action. Which reportedly should happen right after the All-Star break. Here’s the Daily Breeze reporting:

As Josh Hart ran off the Pelicans home court on Wednesday morning, he stopped in front of Lonzo Ball, who was chatting with reporters, to tease the point guard about when he would return to the court.

“First game back after All-Star, man,” Ball responded. “I’ll be there.”

Ruled out earlier this week for Wednesday’s contest at New Orleans and Thursday’s game in Minnesota, Ball said he “definitely” expects to play on Feb. 23 against Dallas, 42 days after spraining his left MCL in an overtime win against the Mavericks.

While Ball has progressed to full contact practices, the Lakers will not practice until next Wednesday, by which time Ball expects to be free of the soreness that has persisted.

Full article