Bulls team president Arturas Karnisovas said Ball would miss the entire 2023-24 season to focus on getting his knee to full strength, adding, "If he comes back, it would be great.
"I think last month he got off the crutches. He's recovering, doing his rehab, everything is going well," Karnisovas said. "Going into the offseason, I think our expectation is that he's not coming back next season. And he's going to continue on his recovery."
Ball last played in a game in January 2022. He averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals in 35 starts in his first season with Chicago in 2021-22.
Ball underwent his third knee surgery in 14 months in March and the ligament replacement procedure casts doubt over the 25-year-old point guard's future on the court.
Ball has had three procedures on the same knee in the past 14 months, with the most recent being a cartilage transplant in March.
Ball has not played since January 14, 2022, when he suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee during a 42-point loss to the Golden State Warriors. He was expected to return in 6-8 weeks, but he experienced discomfort during rehab and was unable to play pain-free. Ball underwent arthroscopic surgery on the same knee in 2018 when he was with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ball underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in January 2022 following his meniscus tear and was expected to return in 6-8 weeks, but he didn't play the rest of the 2021-22 season after experiencing discomfort during rehab. He underwent an arthroscopic debridement in the same knee in September ahead of the 2022-23 season, but the Bulls shut his season down in February before he ever returned to the court because he couldn't play pain-free.
The Bulls will have to make do without Ball again this year with plenty of questions surrounding the team. Trade speculation around Zach LaVine will almost assuredly resume, especially after reports surfaced this past December that LaVine wasn't getting along with the team's front office or fellow star DeMar DeRozan.
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