Lonzo Ball could be an unexpected trade candidate for the Chicago Bulls to add talent to the roster this season.

A lot of attention is on what the Chicago Bulls will do with Zach LaVine with the NBA Trade Deadline approaching in early February, but the team reportedly is not ruling out using Lonzo Ball’s insurance-covered contract in a trade to add talent to the roster, according to Marc Stein.

Lonzo Ball’s struggles with knee injuries have been well-documented. He has not played for the Bulls since January 2022, and is going to miss the remainder of this season as well. Ball has a $21.4 million player option for the 2024-2025 season that he will certainly exercise. With Ball being out for so long, the league-provided insurance covers 80% of his contract.

A team looking to lower its payroll with the new regulations kicking in this upcoming offseason could have an interest in taking on Ball’s contract along with the Bulls’ insurance payments. There is some skepticism that the Bulls will go through with this type of move, according to Stein, but it is a path for the team to consider with the NBA Trade Deadline coming up.

It will be interesting to see what the Bulls do at the deadline. They have not been a team that has shown a willingness to blow it up in recent years. A Zach LaVine trade would make sense, and a Ball trade might as well. However, it would be a surprise to see players like DeMar DeRozan traded away to kickstart a full teardown and rebuild in Chicago.

It will be worth monitoring reports over the next month leading up to the deadline.