A look into Lamelo Ball

The 2020 NBA draft sports some famous names with many of the players being in the spotlight since high school, Cole Anthony, James Wiseman, Onyeka Okongwu and Anthony Edwards are just some of the highly anticipated athletes that we've all been waiting for. But of all these names Lamelo Ball is possibly the most popular one. Lamelo has been on our screens since he was 15 years old back when he played at Chino Hills with his brothers Lonzo and Liangelo where he spent a lot of his time running around defences and taking shots from half court. But now he's 18 years old and about to enter the draft so it's time to take a look at his skillset his physical attributes and discuss how well he could do in the NBA.

Lamelo is a rarity when it comes to his physical attributes, he's 6'7 with a 6'10 wingspan but plays the point guard position (Making him one of the tallest players at his position second only to Ben Simmons) this height gives him an advantage over his opponents that are on average 5 inches smaller than him while also giving him the ability to read the court better then other guards who can't "see through the trees" like he can. Another advantage of being 6'7 is that it's harder to guard him when he's shooting and harder to stop him when he's driving unless someone bigger is switched onto him and even that isn't full proof when you consider his ability to spot and complete difficult passes as well as his ability to take advantage of mismatches. The projected top 5 pick has the physical tools to be a versatile player that's effective on both ends especially if he's able to gain weight, he's currently a lean 190 pounds this is supported by his solid performance during his time in the NBL where he averaged 17 points, 7 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game.

Lamelo's game has improved drastically since we first saw him in chino hills. At Spire we saw sparks of his potential as his shot selection and passing ability improved dramatically, as did his ball control and basketball IQ. Lamelo is incredible on the fast break he's able to blow past his defender using a variety of dribble moves to either create space or beat his man in ISO situations however his biggest asset is his play making, his ability to spot difficult passes and execute them with finesse is something to behold he'll often bait defenders into thinking he's going to drive using his head or eyes just so that he can throw a behind the back pass to the cutter or big man in the paint. He's also cut down on his three point attempts and become more efficient even when shooting from deep which can mainly be attributed to his quick release. His style of play is mesmerising and I found myself re-watching the same clips over and over again trying to figure out how he completed certain passes. However with all that said he does have his downsides. one of his biggest ones being his defence, Lamelo lacks awareness on the defensive end and can sometimes seem uninterested as he'll usually play with a lot of space between his man and himself even if they're a good shooter and he's susceptible to being blown by as he doesn't always make a concerted effort to stay in front of his man. He also isn't great at navigating pick and rolls and this could become a problem when he's faced with more skilled screen setters like Steven Adams or Hassan Whiteside. His shot selection is also concerning at times because although he has stopped pulling up from half court or taking incredibly difficult shots off the dribble for no reason he does still have a tendency to shoot from 30 feet if the defender picks him up as soon as he gets past half court.

Ultimately one of the best ways to determine how successful a player could be in the league is by comparing him to players already in the league that have a similar playing style to them. When looking at current NBA players the one who came closest to Lamelo in terms of playstyle is his brother (Unsurprisingly). Lonzo is a pass first point guard and sometimes this can be to his detriment, since joining the pelicans he's become a more consistent shooter and his offensive game has also improved drastically. This season Lonzo has become a lot more confident in his abilities we've seen him driving to the rim a lot more and he's had a lot of success in Isolation plays he's shown that he can shoot the three fairly consistently while doing it in a variety of different ways, his playmaking has also reached new levels since leaving the Lakers as we've seen him throwing half court lobs to his teammates On an almost regular basis as well as his record breaking full court lobs to Zion. We've also seen him masterfully survey the court to hit cutters in the paint with quick bullet passes while also feeding Jaxon Hayes and Derrick Favors in the post off of mid air passes he's shown off his athleticism on the fast break where he’s much faster than his brother and more aggressive. when you compare Lamelo game to his brothers they're almost identical however Lamelo could be seen as more flashy then his brother because while Lonzo has the ability to be a great offensive Player he chooses to act as a pass first point Guard whereas Lamelo is an amazing playmaker who also chooses to be one of the key offensive players on his team, he's also arguably more confident then his brother, as we've seen there have been several times where Lonzo has seemed to doubt himself on the court and passed up open shots for passes into the paint or ill advised attempts at the rim which led to blocks or turnovers, that same insecurity can't be seen in Lamelo he's confident on the ball and he won't hesitate to shoot if he thinks its within his range nor will he shy away from driving into the paint. When you look at the 2 brothers stats and play styles it seems obvious that Lamelo is the better player and will be just as if not more successful then Lonzo however you also have to consider the pace of play and how this could effect Lamelo's production. That being said i would still say that as Lamelo continues to improve with age and experience he has the potential to be at most an all star level point guard and at the very least a solid starter that contributes to his team

To cap off this assessment of the projected top 5 pick I'd like to offer some predictions for his career starting with his stat line. On the Illawarra Hawks Lamelo averaged 17 ppg 7 ast and 7.5 rbs while sporting a field goal percentage of 37%, with this I think that In his rookie campaign we'll see a few dips as he averages 14 points 8 assists and 5 rebounds while shooting 40% from the field, this is mainly down to the fact that it'll take time for him to adjust to the fast paced intensity of the NBA while also having to deal with not being the teams first option for scoring and not being given the greenlight to shoot whenever he wants, this will force him to become more of a playmaker like his brother while he's still proving himself to the team. That being said I think that by his second season he could average 22ppg 6 apg and 7 rbg per game on 40% shooting as he begins to acclimate to the league and gains the trust of his teammates. At his peak I can see Lamelo becoming one of the best scorers in the league and easily averaging 26ppg 7 apg and 6 rpg.