preface
The Bulls officially announced that "Ball Brother" Lonzo Ball will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury, last offseason, "Ball Brother" underwent knee surgery, and has been in an injury state since then, not playing a game, with the official announcement of the Bulls, it also officially announced that "Ball Brother" said goodbye to this season. In the two seasons of joining the Bulls, "Brother Ball" only played a total of 35 games, with an attendance rate of just over 20%, and in 2021, "Brother Ball" signed a four-year contract worth $85 million with the Bulls, and now half of the contract has passed, if "Brother Ball" cannot fully recover in the future, the Bulls' contract is considered to be in hand, but according to salary expert Bobby Marques, the situation is extreme, if "Brother Ball" is reimbursed due to injury, The remaining salary in his contract can be deducted from the bull's salary cap.
In fact, during the regular season last season, "Brother Ball" underwent a knee surgery, and the expected recovery time was 6-8 weeks, but when the time came, the team gave the news that his return would be delayed, and the final season reimbursement, and then another surgery in the offseason.
After the offseason surgery, "Ball Brother" entered a long recovery period, and as a result, there were reports that not only did the Bulls not know why "Ball Brother" had been hurting in his knee after undergoing surgery, but even the medical staff and members of "Ball Brother's own team did not know the specific reason". As for the official statement that "Ball Brother will continue to focus on solving his discomfort and a full return for the 2023-24 season", judging from the experience of "Ball Brother" in the past two seasons, a full return may not be an easy goal.
"Ball brother" is the top pick in the 2017 draft, and it was the Lakers who selected him, and the Lakers at that time also had Ingram and Hart, two young talents, and then some fans called them "Lakers Three Youngsters", not only because they all have outstanding talent, but also because the Lakers packed them to the Pelicans in the summer of 2019 for "thick eyebrow brother" Davis. Four years have passed, and the former "Lakers and Three Youngsters" have also developed their own developments, but "Brother Ball" is the worst one.
Ingram: "Durant Jr." cashed in on his talent with the Pelicans and became an All-Star to win a billion-dollar contract
In the 2018-19 offseason, the Lakers reached a three-way deal with the Wizards and Pelicans, Ingram, Hart, and "Ball Brother" all went from the Lakers to the Pelicans, and Ingram was the first of the three to break out, representing the Pelicans in the first 5 regular season games, Ingram slashed 134 points, becoming the highest scoring player in the first 5 games for the Pelicans in team history, two games later, Ingram scored 40 points in the match with the Nets, he is so talented on the offensive end, slender, good at dry, Breaking through like a guard, Ingram's first season with the Pelicans has developed towards his own draft template, Durant, and there is a great tendency to become the next Durant.
In the 2019-20 season, Ingram averaged 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, shooting 39.1% from three-point range, and was the team's scoring champion, with his excellent performance, Ingram was selected as the All-Star of the season, and then won the Most Improved Player Award, and at the end of the season, the Pelicans did not hesitate to hand Ingram a five-year contract worth $158 million. In the next three years, Ingram was able to hand over 22+5+5 data every season, becoming the core of the Pelicans' front line, and helped the team return to the playoffs last season, which was also the first time the Pelicans entered the playoffs three years after "thick eyebrows" Davis left. It can be said that Ingram has steadily entered the ranks of stars.
Hart: On the court, he tried his best to rebound like drinking water, and he became a fragrant food in the eyes of each team
In the "Lakers Three Few", Hart's draft pick is the lowest, he is the No. 30 pick in the first round, Ingram and "Ball Brother" are the top picks, naturally, the Lakers did not put too much effort into developing him, and later faced the same situation with the Pelicans, but Hart was determined to use the court performance to play for himself. Hart's "desperate three lang" traits were shown when he was with the Lakers, and his "extreme brake" save once made him hot out of the circle, which also became one of the famous scenes of Hart's career. After going to the Pelicans in the 2019-20 season, because of Zion, Ingram and "Ball Brother", as well as Joe Holloday, who has already played well, Hart can get very little ball, he can only play a 3D role, in this case, Hart did not give up on himself, but played more actively.
Guard-guard Hart doubled on 13 rebounds in a single game in 2019-20, and in the 2020-21 regular season, Hart averaged 8 rebounds per game, second on the team, behind Pelicans starting center Adams. Just being extreme in rebounding and defense wasn't enough for Hart, after being sent to the Blazers before the trade deadline last season, Hart fully improved his scoring ability, shooting 37.3 percent from three-point range in the Blazers' first 19 games, averaging 19.9 points per game, and also had a 44-point blast in a single game. This season, Hart has attracted the attention of multiple teams, and NBA reporter Zach Lowe has reported that Hart is a very hot name and many teams like him. Hart has become a sweet potato in the eyes of many teams, and it is the Knicks who finally got Hart, who has played 3 games for the Knicks, shooting 64.3% from three-point range, averaging 4.7 three-point shots per game, and can hit 3 shots.
"Ball Brother": Seen as a hope for the revival of the classic guard, he showed the offensive and defensive characteristics of the Bulls but lost his future due to injury
When entering the league, the outside world regarded "Ball Brother" as the next "Magic" Johnson, they are all tall guards with superb passing skills, but after coming to the NBA, "Ball Brother" showed obvious discomfort. In college, "Ball Brother" shot 41.2% three-point shooting, which is quite amazing, but in the Lakers' first season, his three-point shooting percentage was only 30.5%, and his weird shooting posture caused fans to jokingly call him a "crooked machine gun". After being packaged and sent to the Pelicans, the progress of "Ball Brother" is in stark contrast to Ingram, and his statistical improvement is not as great as Ingram, which is why the Pelicans transferred him to the Bulls again.
In the 35 games played for the Bulls last season, "Brother Ball" averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, and the three-point shooting rate was 42.3%, which is the level of the league's first-line shooters, in addition, when the "Brother Ball" was on the floor, the Bulls' defensive efficiency improved significantly, with a drop of 8.6, with the help of "Brother Ball", the Bulls once occupied the top spot in the Eastern Conference last season. Due to the absence of "Ball Brother", the Bulls have no real playmaking core and outside defensive core, and can only rely on DeRozan, LaVine and opponents to fight hard offensive firepower, which is obviously not enough to maintain the team's strength, and the team's record has been affected, only 26-33 before the All-Star weekend, ranking 11th in the East, and the playoff spot is in jeopardy.
"Brother Ball" did play an amazing performance in his first season with the Bulls, but after suffering a knee injury that even the team doctor couldn't explain, can "Brother Ball" come back? Will his career end there? These have to draw question marks, from the current situation of "Brother Ball", the worst of the "Lakers Three Youngsters" is him.