Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell is a walking human highlight reel in his own right, but even his eyes widen when Lonzo Ball passes the rock. Recalling an earlier Cavs practice, Ball was in the backcourt by the sideline when he launched one of his patented three-quarters-court feeds to the opposite corner in the waiting arms of a teammate.
“It just landed perfectly,” Mitchell said after Sunday's 117-109 win over the Atlanta Hawks. “Now, did they shoot it? No. But it was like a football catch. It's just, like, right here. Without even a thought. That's his first thought, just to get it up there.”
Seeing him in a similar light to two of Mitchell's favorite former teammates, he was inspired to try his own Ball-esque fling on a connection with Larry Nance Jr. down the floor with numbers.
“I've been blessed to play with Ricky Rubio twice, and he's right there with Ricky as far as passes and an IQ level,” Mitchell said. “Obviously, Mike [Conley], I wouldn't call him a passing point guard, but he definitely makes plays for everybody. And when I say passing, I mean he makes the right play. But Zo's passing, the stuff he does, he's playing like he's back at Chino Hills.
“When you have a guy like that who just sees the game… even if they don't lead to points, right? Like, it's just getting the ball down the floor. The stuff he does in practice is crazier than what I've seen in the game. But, it's something that is great for me to see because I'm like, ‘Hey, this is how I can improve my own self.' And then, the fact that he makes the game a hell of a lot easier for everybody.”
It's doubly effective when it happens in a game setting, but there's one small snag: the Cavs have to be ready for it. In six games, Ball is sporting a career-worst 29.7% turnover percentage, and 12 of his giveaways are considered “bad passes,” per Basketball Reference. While Ball may have been the culprit of some of these, the majority have just been a result of learning his teammates' tendencies — and them learning his.
“We've had some miscommunication, especially offensively, and I think that's part of the turnover situation we're dealing with right now,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said pregame on Sunday.
There have been multiple instances where players in the corner have cut, and Ball has thrown the ball behind them out of bounds. In other moments, he's thought guys were spotting up and fired it into the lane. Atkinson notes his affinity for transition heaves to bigs have caught them off guard.
“We're just not used to it,” Atkinson said following the victory. “We really haven't had a player that likes that. So our guys are adjusting, ‘Well, oh man, if he's going to throw this pass, my technique better get better in terms of when do I seal? Do I seal earlier? Do I give him more room?' So just subtleties like that. We're a little bit off with him, so we have to adjust to him a little bit, what his attributes are.”
“He's quick to get you the ball when you're open,” Evan Mobley added last Friday at shootaround. “So everyone in that lineup's got to be ready to shoot the ball, and I'm definitely gonna be ready.” Jaylon Tyson went as far as to say that he's blessed to play with “a baller” like him, pun intended or not.
The reality is that none of this is on one person, and the fact that it's early November.
“I mean, we're still a week-and-a-half, two weeks in, so definitely got to build some more rhythm together,” Ball said. “But as you can see, I think each game's getting a little better. It really starts in film. I think we have really good film sessions as a team. It's an open dialogue. It's fairly new for everybody, so obviously there's gonna be some growing pains, but we're trying to get over that as soon as possible.”
Using Sunday's positive step as an example, Mitchell pointed out that Ball can assume responsibilities during particular possessions in crunch time while he, Mobley, and De'Andre Hunter focus on getting open
“You can still see the miscommunications, but this was a game where I felt like he really felt a part of this win and winning it kind of in clutch time, and him and Don were kind of handling the ball,” Atkinson said. “So I hope it gives him a bit of a confidence boost and gets him a little more comfortable with what we're doing.”
“It helps mentally, I guess,” Ball added of closing Sunday's contest. “I want to be out there obviously to do what I can, help win games, and that's what I did. I think that as long as we stay together, though, as a whole unit, no matter who's out there, we've got a lot of guys that can play and finish games.”
Lonzo Ball has plenty of time to mesh with the Cavs
Atkinson has been pleased with Ball's fit with the wine and gold. He understands how much has come off the cuff, paying little mind to Ball's .316/.286/.600 shooting splits.
“I think if you were to be critical, you could say, well, he's not making shots, but that's not my criteria for how you're fitting in,” Atkinson said. “So it's been a little hard for him. It's not an easy one to judge. But I know this: he's doing everything we ask, pitching the ball ahead, pitching the ball across. I said this in the beginning of the year, I want Lonzo to be Lonzo, so I'm okay right now with him playing his game until we really, really can define his role when we start getting guys back.”
“I mean, I'm hard on myself regardless [of outcomes],” Ball added. “If we lose a game, I'm especially mad. But other than that, it's really early. I think that we definitely have a whole ‘nother step we can get to. But it's gonna take time, unfortunately, so I can't get too frustrated with the process. You've just got to trust it and let the chips fall where they may at the end.”
Ball's impact on the boards cannot be overstated, as the Cavs' offensive rebounding percentage decreases by 7.1% with him off the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass. And on the other end, opponents are corralling 8.0% more of their offensive rebounds when Ball is sitting. Both of those figures put him in the 90th percentile among guards.
There's also no questioning the difference Ball has made with tempo. Six of Cleveland's seven fastest lineups have included him. Defensively, team-wide, everybody's chipping away, which can lead to scoring success.
“It helps for sure when you get stops,” Ball said. “I think today was the first time we kinda went 1-5 too at the end, a little smaller. I think that helped us stay in front of the ball a lot and get the shots that we want on the other end. Just fly around and get the ball off the glass and go from there.”
Asked in Brooklyn two weeks ago whether Ball can elevate the wine and gold to new heights, Atkinson responded, “One-thousand percent.”
“You look at the pace, first and foremost. Defensively, we know who he is, but just looking at him, just continuing to push the pace, even if nobody's with him. Just setting that tone, making this run. It's just a different dynamic that we have, and I think that's going to make us a lot more unpredictable.”
