I don't want to say that Lonzo Ball has been kind of a forgotten man (because how could you forget anyone in the Ball family?), but I can say that some of the shine that was on him as a prospect two years ago has been dulled.
The first two years of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers did not exactly go all that well, as Ball wasn't able to stay on the floor and struggled many facets of the game when he was available.
His shot looked broken, his defense was inconsistent and his motor was a legitimate question mark.
Then, this past offseason, the Lakers traded Ball to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a blockbuster package for Anthony Davis. Given the fact that the Pelicans also nabbed Brandon Ingram (who has been killing it) and that Los Angeles kept Kyle Kuzma out of the deal, you can't but feel that Ball was New Orleans' third choice of all of LA's top young players.
Regardless, Ball is now a Pelican (which is probably the last place LaVar Ball imagined his son playing years ago), and you know what? The early returns have not been bad.
Of course, Ball left his team's most recent loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night due to cramps, so the durability concern has kind of been raised again, but the guy has played pretty well thus far.
Through seven games, Ball is averaging 12.4 points, 6.7 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals over 30.0 minutes per game while shooting 43.2 percent from the floor, 38.6 percent from 3-point range and 60.0 percent from the free-throw line.
Obviously, there are still some things that Ball needs to work on (like his free-throw shooting), but his improvement from beyond the arc in the early stages of the 2019-20 campaign is certainly notable.
It's not like Ball is shooting that percentage on low volume, either. He is attempting 6.3 triples per game, and he is making them at a nice rate. As a result, he currently owns a true shooting percentage of 55.5 percent, well above his career average of 46.9 percent.
So, that's good. One of the biggest issues with Ball has been his perimeter jumper, and it looks like he has worked on it quite a bit. I'm not sure he'll shoot 38-39 percent on 3s all year, but even if he hits 34-35 percent, at least he is showing improvement.
As for his free-throw shooting? That's still a problem, and not just because of his percentage; it's also because of his free-throw rate.
Ball has taken just 10 free throws through seven contests. For a guy who has terrific athleticism and frequently has a size advantage against his defender, that is not enough.
Ball doesn't need to be James Harden, but he needs to be getting to the stripe more than the meager 1.2 times per game he has logged thus far in his career (he also needs to make them at a rate that isn't completely hideous).
It's still really early in the season, so it's hard to come up with a clear evaluation of Ball. But thus far, he does look like a better player than he was a year ago, and that's always a good thing.
Follow Us
Subscribe