Illawarra Hawks | PG | 2001
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 180 lbs
Wingspan: 6'10"
Shades of: Jason Williams, Lonzo Ball
Projected Draft Range: 1-7
Big Board Ranking: N/A
Ball is an elite playmaking prospect in both the halfcourt and in transition. Ball has an outstanding feel for where his teammates are at all times and is able to acknowledge the gravity he has and react with decisive and creative passes. He is great at getting into the teeth of the defense and playing in tight windows whether that be on a dropoff when the defense comes up on him or a kick out. He also does a great job of hitting cutters with quick bullet passes and recognising where the defense is sleeping. In the pick and roll, Ball is excellent at reading the defense and has shown a flair for the creative in the way he creates off of a screen for his teammates. He has a nice touch on lobs and bounce passes to the roll man but also loves to hit shooters with cross-court passes out of the pick and roll. Ball loves to play in the pick and pop and uses his standout positional size and length at the point guard position to pass over the top of the defense with overhead passes and wraparounds. Much like his older brother Lonzo, LaMelo has an uncanny accuracy and touch on full-court kick ahead passes. Ball is able to place the ball perfectly in the pocket of players leaking out and can turn a rebound on an inbound into a fastbreak opportunity. All of these ways in which Ball is able to get passes off are aided by his ambidexterity as he is comfortable getting off powerful passes with either hand.
In a league with superstars like James Harden and Luka Doncic dominating in heliocentric offenses as jumbo-playmakers, teams will be keeping their eyes peeled for prospects of a similar mould. Ball already possesses similar size and playmaking prowess and it is his upside, not production, as an isolation scorer paired with these aforementioned skills that gives him looks in the top three by NBA front offices. Ball is a shifty ball handler with a highly effective hesitation move that he uses to shake off defenders. Ball also has good burst and does a great job of using his length and long strides to get to the rim. Due to not being much of an above-the-rim player, Ball uses the basket well to shield himself on finneseful finishes and reverses. One-on-one, Ball is great at creating space off the dribble to get his shot off or get himself downhill. Despite his inefficiencies, there is some 3-level scoring upside with ball. He has deep range on his floater which could be a unique tool he makes use of at the next level when creating in the lane and he also shown deep range on his 3-point shot both in catch and shoot and off the dribble.
At 6'6", Ball is plus-rebounder in the backcourt (7.4 RPG with Illawarra). This paired with Ball's open court speed, and creativity with the ball makes him an intriguing transitional player. While positives on the defensive end of the court are far and few between for Ball, he does a good job at disrupting passing lanes and creating transition opportunities.
Turnoffs:
Ball's scoring upside is heavily hampered by his inefficiency from the field. Ball's dismal shooting splits (37.7/25.0) are in part due to his awful shot selection. For a non-threatening three-point shooter, Ball takes a tonne of threes with a high degree of difficulty to them. Ball has a tendency to settle for early shot clock threes and to overdribble his way into highly contested low-percentage shots. Mechanically, Ball lacks consistency in his jump shot and appears to be stubborn about changing his shooting form. Ball's jumpshot lacks replicability as he commonly has inconsistent hip alignment, height in his arc, guide hand placement, and landing position.
Ball is a lacklustre defender who provides minimal effort and impact on that end of the court. Ball has poor technique when defending on the ball and can be heavy-footed at times leading to opposing guards blowing by him. He also puts very little effort into recovering and commonly sits back and watches once the ball gets into the paint rather than contesting the shot. Ball also gets easily knocked off course by screens and has a hard time getting around them.
Despite having quite some flair to his finishing, Ball has subpar touch at the rim particularly with his left hand. Ball whiffs far too many "easy" attempts at the rim and with his left has fallen short of the rim on several occasions. Ball is also contact averse around the rim and will often either try to attempt more difficult finishes circus like finishes to avoid contact or rely too much on his floater which is not the highest percentage shot.
NBA Outlook:
Ball is one of the draft's premier examples of a boom or bust prospect. While he is likely to be one of the NBA's leaders in assists for years to come, his stardom will be determined by his scoring efficiency and on-court mentality.
The realistic "bust" career pathway for Ball would likely be due to him making no further improvements to his efficiency nor to his mentality. If Ball continues to be a complete negative on the defense end and a consistent sub-40 percent shooter from the field and below-average 3-point shooter on high volume, there is very little chance that he could have a true impact on winning basketball despite his elite playmaking talents.
On the flipside, if Ball is too be more disciplined in his shot selection, improve to at least an average three-point shooter on high volume with improved touch at the rim, and average defensive engagement, he could thrive in a high pace heliocentric offense. The issue with Ball's perceived upside is the amount of "if's" involved with reaching that ceiling.
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