The Bulls’ Lonzo Ball is expected to play Wednesday

The Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball, who played his last NBA game on Jan. 14, 2022, is expected to return to the court and make his preseason debut on Wednesday against Minnesota, according to KC Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network. Chicago will also be in action for a preseason friendly on Monday against the Bucks, but the former No. 1 pick. 2 overall was ruled out for that race after being held out of the club’s shootaround on Saturday. It is thought that he will also be able to play in the last friendly match scheduled for Friday against Cleveland.

After signing a four-year contract with the Bulls during the summer of 2020, Ball was only able to play 35 games during his first season in Chicago before going down with knee issues that required three separate surgeries from 2022. The veteran guard, who turns 27 later this month, suffered setbacks after each of his first two procedures, but underwent a rare cartilage transplant surgery in 2023 that he believes fixed his knee problem .