DENVER — A Bulls source confirmed a report on Thursday that Lonzo Ball could be headed for a third left knee surgery since he joined the organization — fourth overall surgery on the knee in his career — but did stress that they “weren’t there just yet.’’

Ball has been in Los Angeles since the Bulls officially shut down his 2022-23 season, seeing specialists as they try and pinpoint exactly why the first two surgeries did not work.

He initially had the left meniscus repaired in January 2022, and the hope was to have Ball back just before last season’s playoff run. That didn’t happen.

Ball spent the summer trying to ramp up his activity, and while he was able to run and shoot, cutting and lateral movement caused discomfort and was an ongoing issue.

That led to the September surgery in which debris was removed.

The concern coming out of that surgery was nerve damage in the knee, but the hope was it would heal and he would get through it.

Again, that wasn’t the case.

If Ball does have to now have a third surgery, it could be up to another six months before he would resume full basketball activity. Best case scenario would be having him ready by October or November.