Lonzo Ball's latest challenge: to give the Chicago Bulls “a spark off the bench” despite limited playing time.

NEW ORLEANS – Efficiency is key for Lonzo Ball this season.

The Chicago Bulls point guard is eager to get back into the starting lineup. But for the foreseeable future, he will have to stick to a firm limit of 14 to 16 minutes per game, a guideline set by the Bulls' medical staff as Ball returns from a nearly three-year recovery from a knee injury.

Ball is no stranger to patience. It's been 19 months since a third surgery replaced much of the cartilage in his left knee, including his meniscus. Since his final regular-season game on January 14, 2022, Ball has impressed teammates, coaches and staff with his tenacity in the face of constant setbacks.

So if he only gets 14 minutes on the court, Ball is fine with that. After two and a half seasons on the sidelines, every minute weighs heavier.

“My time out there is definitely limited, so I'm going to be as aggressive as possible,” Ball said before Wednesday night's season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans. “I play with a lot of energy and try to create a spark off the bench.”

Ball's playing time will be a mystery to coach Billy Donovan and the medical staff this season. While the Bulls aren't completely ruling out back-to-back games, it's highly unlikely that Ball plays on back-to-back days in the first few months of the season.

There is such a clash in the first week with an away game on Friday in Milwaukee and the home opener on Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Depending on how Ball feels after Wednesday's game, he will likely sit out against the Bucks and then play in the home opener.

But Donovan doesn't want to hold Ball to any expectations as he gets back on his feet.

Donovan prefers a nine-player rotation, so the Bulls will use 10 players in the games Ball plays to keep rotations manageable for him. This fits with Donovan's strategy of shortening rotations for each player as he looks to revitalize the offense by accelerating the pace of play, creating a more adaptable rotation pattern than in past seasons.

But these shorter rotations also present a new challenge for Ball. After typically playing eight to nine minutes for most of his NBA career, he is now expected to make the same impact in half the time on the court.

It's a short journey for a player to fit into a game – but Donovan was impressed with Ball's ability to rise to the challenge in preseason.

“To me, it’s pretty amazing what he’s done in two preseason games considering how much time he has,” Donovan said. “It was just remarkable. Not just him taking the shots, but what he did defensively, how he handled not only the number of minutes but also how he was used – that's unbelievable to me. It speaks to his IQ and his understanding of the game.”

The version of Ball that appeared in the preseason seemed almost too good to be true. In two games, he had four assists, four rebounds, one steal and one block while shooting 5-for-11 from 3-point range – all while turning the ball over just once.

Teammates like Nikola Vučević marveled at the quick return of Ball's playful and defensive intelligence: “Honestly, it seemed like he never really missed any time.”

But that was just 31 minutes of build-up play against random squads. Wednesday's game marked the beginning of the real thing, the final step of Ball's unlikely comeback.

Ball knows that playing against the Pelicans is another important milestone. He's had a lot of them lately. But for now, he's focused on making the most of the few minutes he has each night.

“I'm just trying to be successful in my role,” Ball said. “It's just basketball. That’s all.”