NBA Rumors: Bulls 'Confident' Lonzo Ball Will Play in 2024-25 Amid Knee Injury Rehab

Lonzo Ball hasn't played in an NBA game since January 2022, but the Chicago Bulls reportedly remain "confident" he will take the floor next season.

Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic reported Tuesday the expectation is the point guard will play at some point in 2024-25. Mayberry noted it likely won't be on opening night but also pointed out "Ball sounds hellbent on returning each time he's asked publicly."

Ball provided one of those updates last month during an appearance on his podcast, What an Experience.

"It's coming along, man. Week by week," he said. "It's improving, so that's all I can ask for. Still not where I want it to be. Out of 100 (percent), I'd say I'm about 70 (percent). Good enough to play, but it could still get better. I still got a long summer ahead of me. But definitely looking forward to the future."

At this point, it will be a remarkable story if and when he returns.

If he doesn't take the court until January of next season, that would mark three full calendar years since he last played. There was a time when he was one of the most promising young point guards in the league, but it would be unfair to have those types of expectations after missing so much time.

That is especially the case with a knee situation that required multiple surgeries and reached a point where he couldn't go up stairs or jump without pain.

The last time there was real optimism in Chicago was when Ball was on the floor in the early portion of the 2021-22 season. The team was the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for extended stretches with the combination of Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vučević and Alex Caruso all playing well together.

However, he never returned following the initial setback, and the team fell to the No. 6 seed and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Chicago has lost in the play-in tournament the past two seasons without him.

Ball will turn 27 years old in October, so he could still have a number of productive seasons remaining if he does return to a version of his former self when he is back on the floor. There figures to be some urgency on his part as well since the upcoming season is the final one on his contract.

Proving that he can still be an effective playmaker will be important before he potentially hits free agency.