Lonzo Ball Recovery tracking thread update p76 - Lonzo Has Started Sprinting!

[HomoSapien]

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Finally some good news! It felt like he would be ready soon based on the last batch of videos. Glad he's progressing. I'm optimistic we'll see him next season.

[League Circles]

Back for the playoffs perhaps? I'm mostly joking but man you'd have to think if he can sprint now, why is it inconceivable that he could play in a couple months?

[CROBulls]

He will sprint for some other team, his career with Bulls is done unless he is actually paying Bulls money to play

[HomoSapien]

Back for the playoffs perhaps? I'm mostly joking but man you'd have to think if he can sprint now, why is it inconceivable that he could play in a couple months?

I've honestly been wondering the same. I mean, I don't think they'll risk playing him at all this season but given all the progress updates we've had it seemed like the rehab was supposed to be completed around April/May. Not sure if that's delayed because the sprinting is delayed.

[DropStep]

If I were coach he would be back next October at earliest, with limited minutes and probably no back to backs, even if he's extraordinarily lucky and everything somehow goes perfectly, and I kind of don't care how great and healthy he looks in the meantime. He's trying to be the first to ever do this, he's got 14 layers of rust, and there's so little benefit to bringing him back early, with such great downside to pushing it. In my experience, there's often a long period in rehab of feeling pretty good, but actually being brittle. After he's gone through a dozen little microinjuries and stresses and strains he may barely feel, and they've all had the opportunity to heal up properly, then maybe he'll actually be ready for action. But that's just my semi-educated and experienced opinion.

He would actively hate me by the time I gave him full minutes on an NBA court.

[ChettheJet]

The key thing I heard was

cutting

that he has the confidence in what he's feeling to go at some speed, stop and make a lateral move is a major step to me. Stopping quickly and changing direction puts a lot of strain on the knee and ankle so if someone is coming back from either of those being repaired you've got to have confidence that it's fixed right and getting back to normal BB health.

[DuckIII]

I’ll get excited about this after he plays about 2 weeks of games. Lonzo as a Bull sits in my mind as a rumor or something you aren’t entirely sure even happened.

[kodo]

The gang is back!

Bulls: 3 reasons Chicago will make and win 2022 NBA Finals

https://clutchpoints.com/bulls-3-reasons-chicago-will-make-and-win-2022-nba-finals

[Chi town]

Waiting to see new Lonzo video drop of him cutting and jumping and sprinting.

[sco]

I am excited and happy for him. I promised to myself that I won't let my expectations rise until he plays 50 games to show it's not a mirage (see Simmons).

[Ice Man]

If Lonzo returns at the start of next season, that would make for a 31-month gap between when he last played an NBA game. The only player I can think of who missed that much consecutive time and came back fully was Joel Embiid. (I mean, really fully!) The rest were guys like Walton and Klay and Grant Hill ... either not the same player when they returned, or the same player but only for short stretches. You couldn't play them big minutes.

That said. Lonzo does have youth on his side, so if somehow this injury were to be fully healed, without the threat of recurrence, he would seem like a good candidate to be an exception to the previous rule.

[dougthonus]

If Lonzo returns at the start of next season, that would make for a 31-month gap between when he last played an NBA game. The only player I can think of who missed that much consecutive time and came back fully was Joel Embiid. (I mean, really fully!) The rest were guys like Walton and Klay and Grant Hill ... either not the same player when they returned, or the same player but only for short stretches. You couldn't play them big minutes.

That said. Lonzo does have youth on his side, so if somehow this injury were to be fully healed, without the threat of recurrence, he would seem like a good candidate to be an exception to the previous rule.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/k5f8ws/longest_time_off_due_to_injury_in_the_nba/

If you want some research, here you go, you are right Embiid is the only guy to ever be out that long and play great afterwards.

However, I would state the following in Lonzo's favor
1: He's younger than the vast majority of guys on the list
2: Medical technology is leaps and bounds better than it was even a decade ago
3: The sample size is super small and very few conditions would ever require this much recovery time and ever get close to back

I think it's generally unlikely to think any player misses this much time and comes back, but based on what Lonzo is reportedly able to do and the videos we've seen, he might be on a track that's not so crazy.

[League Circles]

I wonder if Lavar Ball will ask AK for a contract extension for Lonzo this summer.

[dougthonus]

I wonder if Lavar Ball will ask AK for a contract extension for Lonzo this summer.

I assume you're joking (at least about the Bulls entertaining one).

It's sort of funny because in a mathematical world, there might be some line an extension makes sense, but in a practical world, Lonzo only takes one if he himself doesn't think he can make it back, so you'd always lose.

[Stratmaster]

If Lonzo is back, that means the Bulls could have a roster with Caruso, Lavine, Lonzo, Coby, Carter and Ayo.

Add in Demar, Craig and Bitim. 9 rotation players 6'6" and under.

Billy can play 6'8" Phillips at Center and 6'7" Terry at PF and have his dream roster.

Look for Vuc and Drum to get moved in the offseason.

I hope Lonzo continues to progress and finds a role in the NBA game. Very sad to see a young person work their entire life to excel at something and then have it snatched away from them.

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[League Circles]

I wonder if Lavar Ball will ask AK for a contract extension for Lonzo this summer.

I assume you're joking (at least about the Bulls entertaining one).

It's sort of funny because in a mathematical world, there might be some line an extension makes sense, but in a practical world, Lonzo only takes one if he himself doesn't think he can make it back, so you'd always lose.

Yeah I know the Bulls wouldn't and shouldn't consider it but I wouldn't put it past Lavar to ask for one with a straight face lol. And yes mathematically it would only make sense for the Bulls if it was like a 4-5 year deal worth like 4 or 5 mil per year max as a gamble. But very little chance Ball would agree to that unless he had a very strong preference for stability/security.

[dougthonus]

I wonder if Lavar Ball will ask AK for a contract extension for Lonzo this summer.

I assume you're joking (at least about the Bulls entertaining one).

It's sort of funny because in a mathematical world, there might be some line an extension makes sense, but in a practical world, Lonzo only takes one if he himself doesn't think he can make it back, so you'd always lose.

Yeah I know the Bulls wouldn't and shouldn't consider it but I wouldn't put it past Lavar to ask for one with a straight face lol. And yes mathematically it would only make sense for the Bulls if it was like a 4-5 year deal worth like 4 or 5 mil per year max as a gamble. But very little chance Ball would agree to that unless he had a very strong preference for stability/security.

I was thinking kind of the same thing, except that Lonzo only takes that deal if he knows he's not coming back ever.

[MalagaBulls]

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[kodo]

On a positive side, in recent comeback stories, 3P% seems not affected by major time off for surgeries.

Dante Exum pre: 18%
Dante Exum now: 48%

Kris Dunn pre: 25%
Kriss Dunn now: 39%

Joel Embiid NCAA: 20%
Joel Embiid 1st NBA year: 37%

If there's any comeback, Lonzo's style of play works in his favor as opposed to someone like D-Rose.

[Bulliever2020]

Not getting my hopes up in any way, shape, or form but it's just incredibly nice to get some good Lonzo Ball news for the first time in what seems like forever. Rooting for him.