After lacking the previous two-plus seasons with a knee harm, Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball has exercised the $21.4 million choice on his contract for the 2024-25 season, sources instructed ESPN on Saturday.
Ball has undergone three surgical procedures on his left knee, the latest a cartilage transplant in 2023. There stays some guarded hope that he may return subsequent season, however there are not any assurances that the broken knee will permit for him to play once more.
Ball, 26, signed an unique four-year, $80 million deal as a part of a sign-and-trade with New Orleans in the summertime of 2021. After a implausible begin that had the Bulls main the Japanese Convention in 2021-22, Ball averaged 13.0 factors, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals earlier than a knee harm 35 video games into the season.
His inactivity has prompted his contract to develop into a blight on the Bulls’ wage cap.
Ball was the No. 2 general choose to the Los Angeles Lakers within the 2017 NBA draft and ultimately was traded to the Pelicans as a part of the Anthony Davis blockbuster deal.
