Lonzo Ball has not played for two full calendar years now, and the Chicago Bulls may finally be done waiting on him.
Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein indicated this week in a post to Substack that the Bulls could pull a very interesting move with the injured Ball ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline. Stein writes that Chicago has not ruled out the possibility of using Ball’s insurance-covered contract in a trade to be able to add more talent to their roster.
At first glance, the 26-year-old Ball, who has been sidelined since Jan. 2022 with persistent knee issues, would figure to have absolute zero trade value, especially since he is making $20.5 million this season with a $21.4 million player option for next season. But since his contract is covered by insurance, another team could trade for Ball and get full salary relief if he can’t resume his career (the insurance would pay out the remainder of the contract, and it would not count against the acquiring team’s cap).
A complicating factor though is that Ball would very much like to continue his career (with a really positive update recently emerging on his recovery). But if Chicago tosses in a future draft pick or two as an incentive, opposing teams may just be interested in taking a swing on the ex-No. 2 overall pick Ball, particularly since there is a built-in eject button if it doesn’t work out.
