Bulls' Lonzo Ball playing elite defense, minutes restrictions and all
It was just Lonzo being Lonzo.
A tick under 10 minutes left in Sunday’s game against Philadelphia, and the Bulls within striking distance at 89-84. The ball gets sent into the post to Joel Embiid, who was unstoppable most of the afternoon, and “The Process” has an undersized Jalen Smith on his hip.
Not a great matchup, and guard Lonzo Ball knew it.
Rather than let Embiid back Smith down and get an easy look to add to his then-27-point game, Ball left his nearby cover of Paul George, and went into harassment mode, double-teaming the 76ers’ 7-footer. Embiid wiggled his way back with a few elbows, frantically looking for a cutter or some help. He eventually found a cutting Kelly Oubre Jr., but the guard blew the floater, leading to a Josh Giddey rebound.
Ball didn’t get a deflection, not a steal, not a block. Yet, he saved the possession on the defensive end with a high-IQ play that only a coach can appreciate.
Just the latest evidence that minute-for-minute, Ball remains the most valuable trade piece the Bulls currently have if he can stay healthy.
And that’s always the big if with Ball. The good news is that besides the minutes restrictions and self-imposed rule of no back-to-backs, the left knee that sidelined the versatile guard for almost 30 months is not the anchor that he thought it would be.
“To be honest I’m a lot better than I thought I was going to be, early on for sure,” Ball said of his knee and the defense it's allowing him to play. “There’s still some mishaps, definitely on the ball sometimes. But for the most part I feel comfortable out there. I feel like I haven’t really missed a beat, so I just try and give good minutes when I’m out there.”
He’s not just giving “good” minutes, he’s giving great.
In his eight games so far this season, Ball has been a plus player in plus/minus in every showing except one (Boston on Nov. 29). So even with just 16.8 minutes per game, Ball leads the Bulls with a total of plus-27. The next closest player is Jevon Carter (plus-20), who has played mostly in mop-up time when the opposition has eased up in the resistance department.
As far as where Ball defense is – his calling card before the injury – the 27-year-old leads the Bulls with an individual defensive efficiency of 113.8.
Now, if he could only get his teammates to follow suit.
The Bulls entered their mini-bye week ranked 22nd in defensive efficiency as a team (117.8), sitting between the Lakers and Pelicans. That included two somewhat solid showing over the last four games with the win over Brooklyn last week and then in the 76ers loss.
Ball wants to see more.
“We have spurts where we show we can play defense, and we get out there and do both – guard the three and stop the drive – and then we have spurts where we don’t do either one,” Ball said. “Unfortunately, we’ve got to play for 48 minutes.”
In Ball’s case 18-20 minutes and unleash hell.
That’s why he remains on the radar as NBA trade chatter starts to move from simmer to high heat. He’s not only an expiring $21-million contract but would be an instant game-changer to the second unit for any NBA contender.
Alone he could get the Bulls draft assets back, but he could also be packaged if something bigger comes along.
For now, however, Ball’s focus is the Bulls and specifically, getting a defensive unit to play with more pride.
“It just comes down to effort, man,” Ball added.