ESPN projects Lonzo Ball to win the Rookie of the Year
ESPN recently turned to their forecast panel to vote on who would win the NBA Rookie of the Year next season. In unsurprising fashion, Lonzo Ball blew out the rest of the class in voting, receiving 140 points compared to the next best; Dennis Smith Jr’s 86. Ball received 21 first place votes while the next three rookies combined received 22 total votes.
It is easy for the NBA hype train to rally around Ball. He is easily the most talked about, most covered rookie that we may have seen since LeBron James. Now, I am not calling Lonzo Ball the next LeBron James, but even Ben Simmons and his prodigy potential were not covered as much as Ball. Whether it is because of his play, his dad, or his shoe choice people want to see Lonzo Ball.
Ball then performed great in the NBA Summer League, only adding fuel to this fire. The UCLA alumni averaged 16.3 points, 9.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds in route to leading the Lakers to win the Summer League Championship as well as taking home the Las Vegas Summer League MVP. Ball looks year beyond his age, showing the wherewithal to run an NBA offense.
Granted, this is just the Summer League and the defense is going to be much tighter in the regular season. However, Ball showed the ability to push the pace of the offense, created a ripple effect that gave the Lakers the most efficient offense in the Summer League.
While he may not score the most out of rookies, Ball will be involved in every play that he is on the court for. Because of this court general role he is taking on, it is easy to see why people think we will win the Rookie of the Year.