As a member of the New Orleans Pelicans for two seasons, Lonzo Ball displayed a significant improvement in his game—particularly his shooting—that convinced the Chicago Bulls he's worth a four-year, $85 million deal.
Ball struggled from the field in his early years, but he found his stroke in the Bayou, leading to career-highs of 37% shooting from long distance and 78% from the charity stripe in the 2020-21 season.
Entering his first year with the Bulls, Lonzo Ball is looking to tap into his old self in hopes of becoming a more active facilitator once again.
Via Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago:
“Just getting back to being more of a traditional point guard where I’m comfortable at… Last year was different for me, but whatever coach asks me, I’m going to do to the best of my abilities. This year, it’s looking like I’m going to be playing point guard a lot, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Ball saw his assists average take a dip from 7.0 in 2019-20 to 5.7 in 2020-21. One can argue that the Pelicans don't have many options for Ball to feed outside of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, hence the dive in his numbers.
In Chicago, Ball will have an array of choices, ranging from big man Nikola Vucevic to elite scorers in Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. There's also Derrick Jones Jr. for the occasional eye-in-the-sky play to ignite the crowd.
Things will be different for Lonzo Ball in The Windy City.
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