Bulls Rookie Suffers Possible ACL Tear

An undrafted player, on a two-way contract, cannot afford an injury when he's fighting for a spot on the roster. Unfortunately, that seems to be the situation for Chicago Bulls' rookie Justin Lewis.

There’s concern that Chicago Bulls two-way player Justin Lewis torn his ACL during a workout, per @KCJHoop.

— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) August 12, 2022

Bulls Insider KC Johnson of NBC Sports says that Lewis "suffered a knee injury and there is concern it could be diagnosed as a torn ACL, per sources."

With his 7'2" wingspan, the Bulls were hoping that Lewis could serve as a possible backup to power forward Patrick Williams. 

Lewis played for the Bulls' Summer League team, averaging 7.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks. But the injury apparently occurred during an offseason workout away from the team. 

The physical 6'7", 235 lb forward out of Marquette earned first-team honors on the All-Big East team in 2021-22. This would be a terrible blow for him, and the injury-plagued Bulls.

Last year was a disaster on the injury front, with Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and Williams missing huge portions of the season. As Ball continues to recover from the knee injury that's kept him out since January, it was only recently that team VP Artūras Karnišovas said that Ball's recovery is “probably not at the speed that we would like.”

And so it goes for the Bulls.

Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports