The Chicago Bulls and veteran point guard Lonzo Ball have agreed to a two-year, $20 million contract extension, according to Shams Charania.
Ball was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but is now under contract with Chicago through 2027. But that doesn’t mean a trade involving Ball is impossible, possibly even before Thursday’s deadline.
As salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan points out, Ball is trade eligible because his extension falls under the trade-and-extend limit. In fact, now that Ball is under contract for two more seasons and would no longer be a potential rest-of-season rental for the acquiring team, he may actually be even more tradeable now than he was before inking the deal.
After years of trying to play the middle, the Bulls have finally become sellers. DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso were both traded away in the summer, while Zach LaVine was dealt to the Sacramento Kings earlier this month in a three-team blockbuster.
There’s been plenty of talk about Nikola Vucevic’s future lately, and a report from the Chicago Sun-Times in late January indicated that Bulls general manager Arturas Karnisovas could be convinced to move anyone on the roster if the deal would make the team better in the long run. That certainly could include Ball, who is healthy again after a years-long odyssey.
Ball, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, finally returned to the court this season after missing the entire 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns with a knee injury. All told, Ball did not play a game for 1,009 days before suiting up on opening night.
Along the way, Ball underwent three surgeries, including a cartilage transplant from a cadaver — an extremely rare procedure. There were times where he couldn’t even run and jump, and it was unclear if he would ever be cleared to play again.
“It felt a lot better playing than watching, I’ll tell you that much,” Ball told reporters after his first game back. “I can’t really put into words how I felt out there, I was just blessed, happy to be out there, man. All the support around me was great, all night. It was definitely a moment I’ll never forget.”
Over 30 games this season, Ball has averaged 21.6 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists, while shooting 34% from 3-point range. Those aren’t spectacular numbers, but they aren’t terrible either and you would expect him to improve as the season(s) goes along. He could certainly help a contender who needs guard depth.
