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Lonzo Ball has picked up his $21.4 million player option with the Chicago Bulls for the 24-25 season.

Ball hasn't played since January 2022 and it is uncertain if he will play again.

Ball signed a four-year, $80 million deal with the Bulls during the 2021 offseason.

Via Adrian Wojnarowski/ESPN

Yet teams still hand out player options like candy.

I feel bad for both sides. Regardless of how much money he is making, at the end of the day Im sure the kid just wants to be on the court.

I saw him leaving a restaurant walking to his Gold Lamborghini Aventador today.

Must have been celebrating lol

Git yo monayyyy yung blood

So the CBA condones Extortion?

Yo that more money than Pippen made with the bulls bro!

Insurance write off for bulls, sucks for their cap though

Meeksology wrote:I feel bad for both sides. Regardless of how much money he is making, at the end of the day Im sure the kid just wants to be on the court.

Yeah passive income really sucks

Eh this is the state of the NBA with guarnateed contracts. It's actually worse in baseball. In the NBA, everyone signs 3 year contracts as that's the best way to maximize long term earnings. Well in baseball, you sign these 8-12 year deals. The guy fall falters in year 2 or 3 either due to skill or injury and you're paying him for a very long time - no salary cap though.

As a fan, I always wished NBA would be like the NFL where you pretty much have to keep up your performance to maintain your contract. That way bad contracts don't doom your team for years.

luciano-davidwesley wrote:Yet teams still hand out player options like candy.

It is understandable to give star players an out... But Lonzo is not a star and he has never played a complete season. In his first four seasons he played totals of 52, 47, 63 and 55 games. CHI and their fans have waited his return like he alone is the answer. He played 35 games in 21/22. CHI did look good with him on the floor, but they had a lighter schedule in the first half of the season and Lonzo's injury was compounded by Caruso missing 41 games and Patrick Williams missing 65 games. Lonzo may come back (and I hope he does) but he won't be walking on water.

xchange55 wrote:Eh this is the state of the NBA with guarnateed contracts. It's actually worse in baseball. In the NBA, everyone signs 3 year contracts as that's the best way to maximize long term earnings. Well in baseball, you sign these 8-12 year deals. The guy fall falters in year 2 or 3 either due to skill or injury and you're paying him for a very long time - no salary cap though.

As a fan, I always wished NBA would be like the NFL where you pretty much have to keep up your performance to maintain your contract. That way bad contracts don't doom your team for years.

Any thoughts on the rookie wage scale all of these leagues adopted to artificially deflate player value? The reason mlb gives out those 10 year sweetheart deals is that the guys who earned them were getting paid nothing for the first 5-10 years of their careers.

HighRyzer83 wrote:

Meeksology wrote:I feel bad for both sides. Regardless of how much money he is making, at the end of the day Im sure the kid just wants to be on the court.

Yeah passive income really sucks

I wouldnt turn that money down, I'll tell you that much lol