Bulls’ Patrick Williams and Lonzo Ball will miss at least a week

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  Jamal Collier, ESPNNovember 20, 2024, 7:49 PM ET

MILWAUKEE – Chicago Bulls advance Patrick Williams will miss at least next week as the team waits for inflammation in his surgically repaired foot to calm down, coach Billy Donovan said Wednesday.

Williams was limited to 43 games last season before undergoing season-ending surgery on his foot in February. He appeared on the season’s injury report for the first time Monday, but played 31 minutes in a win over the Detroit Pistons in the second game of a back-to-back.

“In the game (Monday), he said he felt more (discomfort) at halftime,” Donovan said before the Bulls played the Bucks in Milwaukee. “After the match he started to feel a lot more pain than before.”

Williams remained in Chicago on Wednesday instead of traveling with the team to get more imaging of his foot. Donovan said the team believes the injury occurred due to an early schedule after Williams was unable to play five-on-five for most of the summer while rehabbing.

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Williams, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 draft, is averaging 9.9 points and 5.0 rebounds while starting 15 games for the Bulls this season.

The Bulls will also be without guard Lonzo ball at least another week as he continues to rehabilitate a sprained right wrist. Ball tried to perform some on-court activities during a road trip in New York last week, but he experienced discomfort catching passes and was unable to make any progress beyond shooting.

Donovan says Ball will try to ramp up again next week to see how his wrist responds to increased activity.

“He needs more time for that,” Donovan said. “I really think he’ll handle the ball more, he’ll shoot more, he’ll do more. To really step him up where we can actually see (how he reacts), I would say over the weekend and into the middle of next week Hopefully he can do much more.”