On October 16, during a preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the United Center, Lonzo Ball made his comeback to the Chicago Bulls lineup.
In the Bulls’ season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 23, he made his regular season debut by dishing out four assists, grabbing two rebounds, and scoring five points in 14 minutes.
Ball will now miss at least ten days due to an injury to his right wrist sustained during Chicago’s away victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on October 28. Those minutes must be filled by someone, but how will head coach Billy Donovan distribute them?
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.
With a team-high net rating of 10.8, that group concluded.
In the lineup that was closest to Donovan’s four-guard unit, Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips, Dosunmu, White, and Vucevic all played extra minutes. It may be argued that until Ball regains his position in the rotation, those two should receive some more developmental time.
The 26-year-old floor general’s comeback is still a few weeks away, but it looks like Dosunmu will replace him in the rotation, giving Giddey, White, and LaVine more playing time as the regular starters.
