After battling knee trouble throughout his rookie season, Lonzo Ball underwent arthroscopic surgery during the offseason. The Los Angeles Lakers announced at the time of the operation that Ball would make a full recovery in time for the start of training camp.
The Lakers are holding Media Day on Monday, followed by opening camp at the UCLA Health Training Center the following day. They’ll spend the week holding practices and scrimmages, including two-a-day practices on Tuesday and Wednesday.
While training camp will be the first official gathering for the Lakers since signing LeBron James, Michael Beasley, JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo and Lance Stephenson, they won’t quite be at full strength.
According to Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet, Lakers head coach Luke Walton said Ball will initially be held out of scrimmages:
Lonzo Ball (knee) won’t be ready for 5-on-5 scrimmages when training camp starts next week, Luke Walton told @SpectrumSN
Ball has done 1-on-1 drills, Walton said, but Lakers won’t “rush him back at all.”
Full Walton interview with @geeter3 airs Wednesday at 8 pm on @SpectrumSN
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) September 18, 2018
In previously discussing training camp, Walton said he was already planning for the first scrimmage to be a matchup between the Lakers young core and newly-added veterans.
Meanwhile, for Ball, any limitations or potential time missed in training camp or the preseason could impact his competition with Rondo to start at point guard. Walton intends to evaluate all options and players to find a lineup that best complements James.
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