He made his season debut against the New Orleans Pelicans, checking into the game with 6:14 left in the first quarter. Playing on a minutes restriction (16 per game), Ball replaced Josh Giddey. Ball played 3 minutes, 16 seconds before being replaced by Talen Horton-Tucker with 2:58 left in the first.

Ball played 13 minutes and 39 seconds in his return to live action, and by and large, he looked like his old self in a 123-111 loss for Chicago. He quickly drained a 3-pointer upon entering the game, and in his second stint later on, he threw a gorgeous alley-oop to Zach LaVine, one of those few returning teammates.