According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Lonzo Ball, who has missed the last two seasons due to multiple knee surgeries, made the anticipated decision to select his $21.5 million contract option with the Chicago Bulls for the next campaign.

The four-year, $80 million contract that Ball signed as part of a sign-and-trade with the Pelicans to move to Chicago would come to an end in this year. He participated in 35 games for the Bulls in the 2021–2022 season before undergoing what was meant to be a corrective arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in the middle of the campaign, with the goal of having him return for the postseason. Rather, the discomfort in his knee did not go away, and he hasn’t been to an NBA court since.

Since then, he has undergone two additional knee procedures, the third of which was a cartilage replacement in March 2023, in which medical professionals grow cartilage outside the body and implant it into the knee. Not a single player has recovered from that procedure.

This past season, Ball, 25, told reporters, “I definitely plan on playing again.” “Since my third operation, everything seems to be going well with no setbacks. Therefore, I just need to keep working and keeping my head up.

Ball intends to be prepared for training camp in the upcoming autumn, but there is no assurance that his knee will allow the former Lakers No. 2 choice to play in the NBA once more.