Lonzo Ball, with a ‘brand new knee,’ hopes to play in Bulls’ season opener after two-and-a-half years away

CHICAGO — Bulls guard Lonzo Ball made a surprising declaration at media day on Monday. After two-and-a-half years away from NBA action, Ball says he expects to be ready to play in Chicago’s first game of the regular season. “That’s the goal, obviously we can’t really tell the future, but that’s the plan I’m on,” Ball said. “I think I’ll be ready for the first game for sure.”Ball has been hampered with injuries and setbacks in his recovery process for two-and-a-half seasons, and hasn’t played in an NBA game since Jan. 14, 2022. It started out with a knee surgery to address a torn meniscus that forced him to miss the remainder of the 2021-22 season. He was expected to make a full recovery after a year, but setbacks in his rehab process pushed that further down the line. He then underwent another knee surgery, this time an arthroscopic debridement procedure to clear up debris from the previous surgery, and…