Bulls make stunning commitment to Lonzo Ball amid rumors

The second year of the extension will be a club option, team sources tell Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic.

Ball reportedly drew legitimate interest on the trade market, with the Grizzlies, Pistons, and Timberwolves said to be among the teams to register interest. However, Johnson reported earlier in the day that while Chicago had been offered draft capital, potential trade partners wanted to send out multiyear salary, which didn’t appeal to the Bulls.

Fischer and Marc Stein had reported on Tuesday that Chicago wasn’t eager to trade Ball and would be more interested in retaining the guard beyond his current contract than buying him out. While the 27-year-old will technically remain trade-eligible because his new deal will fall within the NBA’s extend-and-trade limits, it’s extremely unlikely that the team would make this move if it didn’t intend to hang onto him through Thursday’s deadline.

Ball, who missed two-and-a-half NBA seasons while undergoing a series of surgeries to address a troublesome knee injury, made his comeback in the fall and has enjoyed a successful bounce-back season.

His numbers — 7.2 points, 3.5 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game — are career lows across the board and his shooting percentages — 36.2% from the floor, 34.0% on three-pointers — are well below his usual rates.

However, Ball has been a positive contributor beyond the box score. The Bulls have outscored opponents by 4.2 points per 100 possessions when Ball is on the court and have been outscored by 6.1 points per 100 possessions when he’s not.

Even after trading Zach LaVine to Sacramento this week, Chicago has a crowded backcourt, with Josh Giddey, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Tre Jones and Jevon Carter all in the mix alongside Ball. But a few of those players are considered possible trade candidates, and Ball is now the only one of them who is under contract beyond next season.

Ball is earning $21.4M this season in the final season of the four-year, $80M contract he signed with the Bulls in 2021.