2017 NBA Draft: Three teams that can snag Lonzo Ball from the Lakers
By Jason Reed
Minnesota Timberwolves
I’ll go out on a limb and say it: if the Timberwolves somehow can lock up Lonzo Ball, they will win an NBA Championship in the next five years. Very bold, I know, but a young big three consisting of Karl Anthony-Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Lonzo Ball will be great now, and superstars in the future.
Lonzo Ball is exactly what the Minnesota Timberwolves need. They already have a good dribbler and distributor in Ricky Rubio, however, the only problem is that Rubio is not that great of a scorer. He can drive on some guys and lay it in, but he struggles to find his stroke from outside. This leads to Rubio becoming pretty predictable, drive and dish it out.
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Ball, on the other hand, brings in a much more well-rounded dynamic than Rubio. He can still dish the ball like Rubio, perhaps even better, and has a great stroke from outside alongside the ability to rebound. While he may only average around ten points a game in his rookie year, he will be contributing way more by getting Towns and Wiggins open looks.
The Timberwolves have the tools to move up to the first overall selection as well. The team could deal guys such as Zach LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad alongisde their seventh overall selection to get the first overall pick.
The Celtics would be dumb to not take a package of that caliber. The team would get a great scorer in LaVine, perhaps becoming one of the best sixth men in the league. A promising small forward in Muhammad, and still get a relatively high pick at seventh overall.
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Then we see Lonzo Ball heading to Minnesota, not Los Angeles, to begin his NBA career. While it may be dishearting for Laker fans, we may see some serious moves in the 2017 NBA Draft.