1 contract every NBA team would want back
By Ian Levy
Chicago Bulls: Lonzo Ball
Lonzo Ball made all the sense in the world when the Bulls acquired him in a sign-and-trade with the Pelicans, on a four-year, $80 million deal. He had emerged as a special backcourt defender, a strong offensive connector and a reliable outside shooter, hitting 37.6 percent of his 3s in his two seasons in New Orleans.
Since then, he’s been plagued by a knee injury and ongoing pain that hasn’t been relieved at all by multiple surgeries. He didn’t play at all last season, meaning he’s played just 35 of a possible 164 games over the first two years of the deal.
The Bulls lost a second-round pick for tampering in a penalty levied by the league for improper negotiations on the deal. They also sent their 2024 second-round pick to New Orleans, along with Tomas Satoransky, who the Pelicans traded to the Trail Blazers as part of the package they used to acquire CJ McCollum. So in addition to the $80 million, they also gave up a pair of second-round picks and a useful salary that could have been included in another deal.
Even if Ball is able to come back healthy at some point, they’ve already wasted two seasons and more than $40 million.