Lonzo Ball set to make Bulls return Wednesday, but what will they get?

MILWAUKEE — Bulls coach Billy Donovan doesn’t know what he’s going to see from guard Lonzo Ball in the preseason game Wednesday against the Timberwolves.

He knows he is going to see him, however, and that’s a start.

Ball hasn’t played in an NBA game since Jan. 14, 2022. He has had three surgeries on his left knee since then, the most recent of which was described as a cartilage transplant. Now the Bulls will start to find out exactly what they have with Ball in the final year of his contract — and what exactly he can do for them this season.

Ball’s return this fall was slowed because of a bout with COVID before camp started. Donovan, however, revealed Monday that Ball also has had some soreness in the knee as he has jumped back into full-contact scrimmages.

‘‘The other part was him getting in practice and at least having periods where he had contact [and] see how he responded after that,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘There were consecutive days where he did have some soreness, and we kind of backed up a little bit. We’re still trying to find that spot of where the soreness occurs, how many minutes and stuff, but I think he’s got a good base right now.

‘‘Him playing the preseason game [Wednesday] was what we kind of targeted. We wanted to try and get him to play two games before the regular season.’’

That was a point Donovan and Ball made last week, which is why the delay of Ball’s debut came as no surprise.

Ball will be on a minutes restriction, of course, and the plan is to keep him on one indefinitely to start the season. He also won’t play in back-to-back games.

What Donovan and the Bulls are eager to see is what Ball looks like. Ball admitted on media day two weeks ago that he had lost some athleticism, and Donovan didn’t sugarcoat that.

‘‘I think defensively, blowing up screens, those types of things, it’s not there right now,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘Him running down plays or, if he gets beat off the dribble, being able to recover toward the basket into the rim, he felt like he’s lost some of that a little bit. How much of that he can get back, I don’t know.

‘‘But the way he plays, he doesn’t necessarily need to be the same athlete that he was because his IQ is so good and so much of his game is based on passing. So a lot of times he gets [the ball] when there’s a four-on-four situation or a three-on-three, and he advances and it becomes a three-on-two situation. There’s things he sees vision-wise that’s got nothing to do with where he is athletically. He can still [make an] impact.’’

Wrist shot

Forward Patrick Williams jammed his wrist during the preseason loss Saturday to the Grizzlies. Despite X-rays being negative, he sat out Monday against the Bucks.

Donovan didn’t seem overly concerned about the injury.

‘‘Probably being a little cautionary with the wrist,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘They did X-ray him after the game, and everything was negative and fine. But I do think they’ll keep monitoring him to make sure everything is going to be fine.’’

Williams wasn’t exactly lighting the world up in the first two preseason games, shooting a combined 3-for-15 from the field.

Street clothes

While the Bucks gave the Bulls the star treatment, starting Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez, the Bulls sat Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Williams.

The main reason, Donovan said, was that it was a scheduled rest game. He also said some players had a few bumps and bruises that needed to heal.