‘HE’S NOWHERE NEAR PLAYING’
If Donovan is correct, Ball appears unlikely to return this season
ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s not that Bulls coach Billy Donovan enjoys being the bearer of bad news; he just wants to be as honest as he can.
When asked about possibly shutting down injured point guard Lonzo Ball for the rest of the season, he said the team isn’t there yet, but the situation is moving in that direction.
“There has not been a specifically set date,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘My guess would be, we get through the All-Star break, everybody would probably sit down to talk about the length and time of the season, how realistic it is for him to get back. If he could get back, what would the minutes look like and is it not worth having him back just because it’s too much?
‘‘I think everything, at least in my conversations with the medical staff about him, have always been geared toward helping him get back to playing.
‘‘Certainly once you get out of the All-Star break, with the amount of time that’s left, basically you’re at the end of February. You have all of March and not even two weeks in April, so you start to get to that point where I think there will be some conversations of, ‘OK, if he’s still not close to playing, what’s the plan moving forward?’
“As much as he has made some progress, and some slow progress, I’d be the first one to tell you he’s nowhere near playing. He’s just not.’’
Ball was injured more than a year ago and eventually had a second surgery on his left knee. There was a push to get him back for the first-round playoff series against the Bucks, but he simply wasn’t ready.
When the rehab on the knee continued having more downs than ups during the summer, a third procedure was done — the second within a year — with the hope that he could be back for the second half of the season.
That scenario came into question fairly quickly, however, because of the slow progress.
Ball spoke with the media last week in Paris and wouldn’t rule himself out for the season.
“Obviously, I want to play; that’s the goal,’’ Ball said. “Once I feel I’m comfortable enough playing, whether it’s 70, 80, 90, 100%, then I’ll be out there.’’
Donovan said Ball is doing work on a treadmill, as well as everything else he posted on his Instagram page a few weeks ago, but he’s not consistently running, let alone cutting or jumping on the knee.
“If 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 would feel a little more optimistic about when he could return,’’ Donovan said. “Optimistic where we could say, ‘OK, here’s a date. We feel pretty secure about this.’
‘‘Until he can get back to that, it’s kind of hard to say: Here’s where he can get back.’’
So with the Feb. 9 trade deadline looming, how does Ball’s status affect the Bulls, especially at point guard?
Donovan wasn’t concerning himself with outside help.
With Ayo Dosunmu as the starter and Goran Dragic coming off the bench, the team has employed a point guard by committee, especially late in games.
“For me, you’re always, every game, every day, looking at the hand you have and trying to figure out ways to help it,’’ Donovan said. “I think there’s been enough for us with the absence of Lonzo. Work with the group that we have and try to get better.’’