Closing Five: Justin Lewis' knee injury is awful news for the Bulls

We’re in the dead of the offseason and there’s not a whole lot to discuss. But a few things come out related to the Chicago Bulls every week, so I’m going to start putting together a short round up to make sure you have all the info you need from the week:

1. Justin Lewis knee injury

The Chicago Bulls cannot have nice things.

Last night, KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reported Bulls rookie two-way player Justin Lewis suffered a knee injury that the team believes could be an ACL tear. We’ll find out more shortly, but what a blow for the Bulls and especially Lewis.

I’ve been the conductor of the Justin Lewis hype train since I got to see him in Las Vegas Summer League. He’s a big wing shooter with a lot of potential to fill one of the most important roles in the game. As an undrafted rookie and two-way player out of Marquette, he’s fighting for his NBA life every day. A serious, year-long injury could be a massive blow.

I really hope the Bulls keep Lewis and work with him through his injury. There is enough potential there to invest in him while he recovers.

Meanwhile, buried at the bottom of Johnson’s report was more vague news about whether Lonzo Ball will be ready for the start of training camp …

2. Latest with Lonzo

Lonzo Ball tore his meniscus on January 14. Today is August 12. His initial timetable was 4-6 weeks. It’s been seven months and we still don’t know if he’ll be ready to start next season.

In Johnson’s report, he says the status of Ball’s “readiness for the start of training camp is unknown.”

Brutal.

ESPN’s Jamal Collier was on TV this week discussing some optimism coming from Ball’s camp about him being ready to play at the beginning of next season:

.@JamalCollier says on "NBA Today" that the Chicago Bulls have been "very vague" about Lonzo Ball's knee injury.#NBATwitter #BullsNation pic.twitter.com/l6zwQePHfu

— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) August 8, 2022

Collier also went on to say he expects the Bulls to slowly ease him into form to make sure he is 100 percent healthy, and I very much agree with that.

The Bulls have to be extremely careful with Ball moving forward, regardless of his readiness to start the year. Even aside from this injury, it’s much more important they have a healthy Ball in the playoffs (assuming they make it), than for the start of the season.

The Bulls unbelievable stretch of bad luck at the point guard position is unprecedented. It’s a never-ending shitshow from Derrick Rose’s ACL, to meniscus, to orbital bone to general soreness to Ball and Alex Caruso’s injuries this past season.

Please give us one healthy season.

3. Vucevic Extension in the Works?

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times reported that the Bulls and Nikola Vucevic could be looking into an extension.

A source said both sides want him to stay with the team beyond the last year of his contract this coming season and will have initial discussions on what that might look like when training camp begins in the fall.

Important to note:

• Vucevic is eligible for a 4-year, $118 million extension
• He can sign an extension with the Bulls any time before June 30, 2023

I broke down the Bulls salary cap situation and gave my thoughts about bringing back Vucevic earlier this week. You can read about that here.

Reply in the comments or @ me on twitter with what you think the Bulls should do with Vucevic’s next deal.

4. Rankings and Projections

The early NBA rankings and projections are coming in from around the media, and the Bulls have been rated higher than I would have thought.

• The Athletic rated the Bulls offseason 15th overall, which is probably higher than I would have gone but also pretty perfect.
• Nate Duncan graded the Bulls offseason a C- Danny LeRoux graded the Bulls offseason a B on the Dunc’d On Basketball Podcast.

Projections, however, have not been as kind to the Bulls.

• ESPN projected the Bulls to finish with the eighth seed with a 44-38 record.
• An ESPN panel voted on which teams would win each conference as well as the NBA Finals. The Bulls did not earn any votes.
• Our friends at PointsBet have the Bulls tied for the 15th best title odds (+4000) and have their season win total set at 43.5
• PointsBet has the Bulls making the playoffs at -250 and missing the playoffs at +170

At the end of the day, the Bulls didn’t do anything terrible this offseason, they just didn’t get better. While everyone else around the league is improving their championship equity, the Bulls have not. They didn’t even address the two areas of need (shooting and rim protection) they said they needed after the season. In that sense, I think it’s fair to think the Bulls will take a bit of a step back next season with health and regression looming over their heads.

5. Bulls at the Drew

DeMar DeRozan has been the face of the Drew League this summer. He’s bringing along some friends as well.

Patrick Williams played with DeRozan last weekend and put up 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Clipped together (most of) Patrick William's touches from the Drew.

Handle looks quite a bit tighter. Got dunked on trying to block some shots. Had some nice dunks towards the end. Didn't look fantastic all game but cool to see him in this setting and trying some new moves pic.twitter.com/CxjdqmR76Y

— Will Gottlieb (@Will_Gottlieb) August 7, 2022

Dalen Terry played the following day on a team with Isaiah Mobley and Onyeka Okongwu.

Chicago Bulls first round pick Dalen Terry highlights from the Drew League! @DalenTerry @DrewLeague pic.twitter.com/c951PcHd3k

— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) August 10, 2022

Not putting much, if any, stock into these performances, but it’s always fun to see Bulls players in these kinds of environments.