NEW ORLEANS — Efficiency is the name of the game for Lonzo Ball this season.
The Chicago Bulls point guard is eager to get back into the starting lineup. But for the foreseeable future, he will have to hew to a firm restriction of 14 to 16 minutes per game, a guardrail the Bulls medical staff laid out as Ball returns from a nearly three-year recovery from a knee injury.
Ball is no stranger to patience. It has been 19 months since a third surgery replaced a majority of the cartilage in his left knee, including his meniscus. Since his last regular-season game on Jan. 14, 2022, Ball has impressed teammates, coaches and staffers with his tenacity in the face of consistent setbacks.
So if he gets only 14 minutes on the court, that’s fine by Ball. After 2½ seasons on the sidelines, every minute carries a heavier weight.
“My time is definitely limited out there, so I’m being as aggressive as possible,” Ball said before Wednesday night’s season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans. “I’m playing with a lot of energy and trying to give a spark off the bench.”
Ball’s playing time will be a puzzle for coach Billy Donovan and the medical staff throughout this season. While the Bulls haven’t fully ruled out back-to-back games, Ball is highly unlikely to play on consecutive days in the opening months of the season.
The first week features one such back-to-back with a road game Friday in Milwaukee and the home opener Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Depending on how Ball feels after Wednesday’s game, he likely will sit out against the Bucks, then play in the home opener.
But Donovan doesn’t want to tie Ball down to any expectations as he ramps back up.
Donovan prefers a nine-player rotation, so the Bulls will use 10 players in games Ball is playing to ensure manageable rotations for him. This fits into Donovan’s strategy to shorten rotations for every player as he attempts to revive the offense by speeding up the pace of play, creating a more adaptable rotation pattern than in past seasons.
But these shorter rotations also pose a new challenge for Ball. After typically playing eight- to nine-minute stints for the majority of his NBA career, he now is being asked to make the same impact in half the time on the court.
It’s a short runway for a player to integrate himself into a game — but Donovan was impressed with Ball’s ability to tackle the challenge in the preseason.
“It’s pretty amazing to me what he’s done in two preseason games for the amount of time he’s gotten,” Donovan said. “It’s just been remarkable. Not even just making the shots but some of the things he’s done defensively, how he’s been able to handle not just the number of minutes but how he’s being used — that’s incredible to me. It speaks to his IQ and understanding of the game.”
The version of Ball that appeared in the preseason seemed almost too good to be true. In two games, he tallied four assists, four rebounds, a steal and a block while shooting 5-for-11 from 3-point range — all while turning the ball over only once.
Teammates such as Nikola Vučević marveled at the quick return of Ball’s playmaking and defensive intelligence: “Quite honestly, it seemed like he never really missed any time.”
But that was only 31 minutes of ramp-up play against haphazard rosters. Wednesday’s game marked the beginning of the real deal, the final step of Ball’s unlikely comeback.
Ball knows playing against the Pelicans is another major milestone. He has had a lot of those lately. But for now, he’s focused on making the most of the handful of minutes he gets every night.
“I’m just trying to thrive in my role,” Ball said. “It’s just basketball. That’s all it is.”
