- Lonzo Ball continues to defy the odds in his latest attempt to come back from knee surgery, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times. He was recently cleared to start full-contact scrimmages and has started that process on schedule with no setbacks, Cowley reports. Ball has been participating in scrimmages in Los Angeles. The next step for Ball will be to run with his Bulls teammates at the team’s practice facility, which will allow the team’s medical staff to evaluate him and devise a plan for him heading into the preseason.