Bulls coach Billy Donovan remains very hopeful that Lonzo Ball is headed for a return. He also sees a roster in which Ball can play and be productive even with the emergence of Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White.
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
MIAMI — It would seem the guard room at the Bulls’ facility should have a ‘‘filled to capacity’’ sign hanging outside the door next fall.
After all, Coby White has emerged as a Most Improved Player candidate, Ayo Dosunmu has been playing stellar basketball for months, Alex Caruso is an All-NBA defender and Dalen Terry has become the sixth man lately. And then there’s Zach LaVine, who will be around unless he is traded this summer.
So what about the idea of adding a healthy Lonzo Ball to the mix?
Coach Billy Donovan was willing to pull up a chair for Ball and make room for him at the table if and when that time comes.
‘‘I think one of the things that’s been good with Ayo and Coby is I really feel like they’ve complemented each other really well,’’ Donovan said Friday. ‘‘Like, ‘Hey, you take it now.’ Or, ‘I’ll take it.’ They’ve worked well together. Lonzo is such a smart player, and his game is a lot of times predicated on throwing the ball up, generating close-outs, helping guys play fast, getting guys the ball in space. I think all three of them help each other.
‘‘When I was in Oklahoma [City], we had Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder, and I played those guys a lot together because of the IQ and the unselfishness, the way they were willing to play. I feel totally comfortable — now I’m not going into the defensive part — but I feel really good with those three guys out there because of their makeup and their mindset as players.’’
Ball isn’t even close to scrimmaging or taking the next step in his rehab process after a third surgery on his left knee, but the Bulls remain optimistic he will stay be back by next season.
Dosunmu and White, specifically, represent a solid wave of young players the Bulls weren’t sure they had even a year ago. So the last thing the team wants to do is stunt their growth by taking away playing time because LaVine and Ball might be back in the rotation.
Donovan will have some interesting decisions to make.
‘‘As a player, when you are young, it’s really hard to grow unless you go through some significant adversity,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘[Last] year’s struggles for [Dosunmu] speaks to his character. The same can be said of Coby. They’ve gone through difficulties, and they’ve kind of leaned in on ways to get better. I do think the offseason is critical for both of them.
‘‘Ayo has to really look at the fact of, what does he do now? To me, that’s what good players do is take the experience and figure out a way to grow it and get better.’’
Heat wave
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t just take note of White’s 42-point game Wednesday against the Hawks. He said he has been impressed with White for most of the season.
‘‘His confidence level has gone up; his usage rate has gone up,’’ Spoelstra said. ‘‘He’s just grown as a player, and he’s had to weather some ups and downs through his career. You have to respect somebody that’s kind of done it on a different path and it didn’t happen immediately. A lot of the things we talked about with [76ers guard Tyrese] Maxey, [White] can do a lot of those things.’’
Full go
Despite popping up on the injury report, Caruso (left ankle), big man Andre Drummond (left ankle) and forward Torrey Craig (knee) all were cleared to play with no minutes restrictions.