Bulls News: Latest on Lonzo Ball’s Recovery, Alex Caruso’s Role and More

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The Chicago Bulls stormed out of the gate in the 2021-22 NBA season, but it’s been a step forward and a step back ever since.

A nine-game winning streak that ran through Jan. 7 made them 16 games above .500 at 26-10. After Tuesday’s 28-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Bulls are just 12 games above at 42-30 and down to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Let’s dig deeper into the happenings around the Windy City by rounding up the latest reports concerning the Bulls.

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Chicago’s troubles started around mid-January, right about the time when the team lost Lonzo Ball to arthroscopic knee surgery.

The Bulls have eagerly awaited his return ever since—but the wait goes on. They will stall his rehab process for at least the next 10 days before deciding on how to proceed.

“The feeling was, let’s really pull back on what he’s doing and let’s let him, I don’t want to use the word rest because it’s not like he’s sitting around doing nothing—he’ll do strength training and those kind of things—but take a break on the running and trying to ramp him up,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan told reporters.

Donovan did not speculate on whether Ball will return this season, saying only the club “[will] have a better feel of that once they get through this next 10 days.”

Ball, who was sign-and-traded from the New Orleans Pelicans last summer, hit the ground running in Chicago. His 42.3 field-goal percentage, 42.3 three-point percentage, 1.8 steals and 0.9 blocks are all career highs, and the Bulls have been 4.3 points better per 100 possessions with him than without, per NBA.com.

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A little more than a week ago, Alex Caruso returned after a seven-week absence with a fractured wrist.

During his fifth game back, Caruso was promoted to Chicago’s starting lineup. That’s where the Bulls plan to keep him going forward, which bumps second-round rookie Ayo Dosunmu back to the bench group.

“I can’t believe how much [Dosunmu has] endured and how much he’s done as a rookie. He has been incredible,” Donovan told reporters. “But I’ve also asked a lot of him in a lot of ways, and he’s handled everything in terms of trying to run the team. I just felt like since Alex had his legs under him a little bit, starting off with that group defensively could give us a little bit better energy.”

Chicago’s defense has been its stingiest with Caruso on the court. The Bulls have allowed 11.2 fewer points per 100 possessions when he’s in the game this season.

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Patrick Williams’ sophomore season was nearly over as soon as it started.

During Chicago’s fifth game of the campaign, he suffered a broken wrist that threatened to derail his campaign. But nearly five months later, he made his return Monday night and immediately contributed to the Bulls’ 14-point triumph over the Toronto Raptors with seven points, two rebounds and a steal in his 19 minutes of work.

“I actually thought he looked really good,” Donovan said. “He had a couple of great moves along the baseline. He got to the rim. He knocked down a three, which was fine. But I thought he moved very well. That was my biggest thing. I just didn’t know how he would look moving in an NBA game.”

Williams’ return must have gone well because he felt good enough to log another 18 minutes Tuesday night. The Bulls have been missing a two-way forward with good size all season, and Williams could scratch that itch in a significant way if he finds his footing sooner rather than later.