Bulls' Lonzo Ball ‘Nowhere Near Playing,’ Per Billy Donovan

Billy Donovan provided the latest update on the Bulls injured point guard prior to the team’s victory over Orlando on Saturday.

Billy Donovan didn’t so much offer an update on Lonzo Ball Saturday as he did echo what’s been presumed for some time now: the Chicago Bulls point guard is “nowhere near playing.”

“Because he’s not running on a consistent basis right now,” Donovan said of Ball, who hasn’t played in a game since he injured his left knee last January.

“So I think, when he can get to that place where he can do that consistently and be able to come back the next day and do it again, do it again and do it again, I think you’ll feel a little more optimistic.”

Will Lonzo Ball Play For The Bulls This Season?

Even with Ball’s painfully slow recovery, there’s been no formal discussion about him being shut down for the season, according to Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune.

However, if it continues to crawl along, one will be had in the coming weeks.

“Once you get out of the All-Star break (Feb. 17-19) I think that, with the amount of time that’s left — you’re at the end of February, you basically have all of March and a couple of weeks, if not even two weeks, in April. So if you start to get to that point,” Donovan said, “I think there will probably end up being some conversations.”

Of course, if the Chicago Bulls continue to struggle to stay within the frame of the play-in tournament picture, there may be little incentive for Lonzo Ball to return this season, regardless of any progress he makes moving forward.