Lonzo Ball's reported $20M contract extension with Bulls doesn't close door on possible deadline trade
CHICAGO (CBS Sports) -- Instead of dealing Lonzo Ball before the 2 p.m. trade deadline Thursday, the Bulls are locking up the veteran guard with a two-year, $20 million trade extension.
The deal was first reported by Chicago Sports Network Bulls insider K.C. Johnson. The second year of the extension for Ball is a team option.
The surprise move adds to Ball's incredible comeback story after missing two and a half seasons and having three knee surgeries.
Ball was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but is now under contract with Chicago through 2027. But that doesn't mean a trade involving Ball is impossible, possibly even before Thursday's deadline.
As salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan points out, Ball is trade-eligible because his extension falls under the trade-and-extend limit. In fact, now that Ball is under contract for two more seasons and would no longer be a potential rest-of-season rental for the acquiring team, he may actually be even more tradeable now than he was before inking the deal.
After years of trying to play the middle, the Bulls have finally become sellers. DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso were both traded away in the summer, while Zach LaVine was dealt to the Sacramento Kings earlier this month in a three-team blockbuster.
There's been plenty of talk about Nikola Vucevic's future lately, and a report from the Chicago Sun-Times in late January indicated that Bulls general manager Arturas Karnisovas could be convinced to move anyone on the roster if the deal would make the team better in the long run. That certainly could include Ball, who is healthy again after a years-long odyssey.
Ball, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, finally returned to the court this season after missing the entire 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns with a knee injury. All told, Ball did not play a game for 1,009 days before suiting up on opening night.
