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Following weeks of anticipation, the Los Angeles Lakers finally let the cat out of the bag with the selection of UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball with the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft on Thursday night.
The Lakers have since spewed nothing but praise toward Ball for what he could potentially offer the team on the court next season. This included general manager Rob Pelinka describing the 19-year-old as possibly being a “transcendent talent” in the NBA.
Rob Pelinka calls Lonzo Ball a "transcendent talent," saying, "There's something special about his basketball abilities."
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) June 23, 2017
Ball's play during his one season at UCLA has evoked much optimism about how that could translate over at the next level. He was a highly effective player with the ball in his hands leading the nation with 7.7 assists per game while orchestrating the highest scoring offense in the country at 90.4 points per game.
In turn, this has created much belief that his ability on the offensive end of the floor will help turn the Lakers around from what's been a disappointing stretch in the franchise's history in their longest playoff drought of four consecutive losing seasons.
Ball has the opportunity to step in and become the leading conductor of the Lakers' uptempo offense by simply being the primary ball-handler and distributor. It's something that the Lakers hold much hope that it can come to fruition because of his talent on the court.
That said, it is now on Ball to demonstrate that all the hype and talk around him can equate to much success with his new team in Los Angeles.
