The impact of Lonzo Ball’s injury on the Bulls’ rotation

On October 16, Lonzo Ball made his comeback to the Chicago Bulls lineup for a preseason game at the United Center against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 26-year-old had missed two and a half seasons and over 1,000 days of NBA action. Lonzo Ball (2), a guard for the Chicago Bulls, gets benched during the first half of a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at United Center on October 16, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Lonzo Ball returned to the Chicago Bulls lineup on Oct. 16 for a preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the United Center.
The 26-year-old had gone more than 1,000 days and two and a half seasons between NBA games.

He finally made his regular season return on Oct. 23 in the Bulls’ season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans when he scored five points, grabbed two rebounds and dished out four assists in 14 minutes.

Now, however, after injuring his right wrist in Chicago’s Oct. 28 road win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Ball will miss at least 10 days. Someone has to fill those minutes, but how will head coach Billy Donovan allocate them?

How Lonzo Ball’s injury might affect the Bulls’ rotation Ball spent the majority of his playing time with Nikola Vucevic, Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams, and Ayo Dosunmu in the four games that made up the small sample size. Alongside LaVine, Josh Giddey, Coby White, and Vucevic, he also played in a four-guard unit. There is room for a third or fourth guard if he is dropped from those groups.

Donovan relied more on his starting lineup of Giddey, White, LaVine, Williams, and Vucevic in Chicago’s first game without Ball. Giddey was replaced by Dosunmu, who played extra minutes off the bench and contributed defensively to the team’s comeback victory.