Lakers would benefit the most from LeBron James to the Warriors
By Keith Rivas
If Lonzo Ball wants to be great, he’ll accept the challenge head-on
Alright, here’s where things get a little tricky and depend on the Lakers to actually improve instead of just take advantage of the opportunity given to them. By drafting Lonzo Ball second overall last summer, they, as a franchise, chose a direction that they should’ve known was going to come with noise from their point guard’s father.
That off the court drama has led some to want the Lakers to trade Lonzo Ball, which included myself at one point, but with the way things are shaping up to look this summer, they might have really struck gold.
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There’s plenty to overlook in Ball’s rookie campaign because of his father, but there’s a real opportunity for him to take charge of the team, locker room, and ultimate direction of the Lakers in the second half of the season and even more so in his sophomore year if a James to Golden State situation really does take place.
Reasoning behind a quick rise in stardom in Ball are simple — he’ll either survive the expectations when they’re raised, or go out trying. He’s been able to fend off some of his poor games this season with the excuse that he’s still learning his flow, especially with tempo and the full control of the offense that he’s still trying to master.
But throw him in the ultimate pickle and see where it goes.
The kid can play, he showed that much at UCLA. How he’s handled his father’s comments could be better, but we have to remember that — especially at this point in his career — we should opt for him to learn from his mistakes now than be passive the rest of his professional career and get stuck in a cycle.
It doesn’t matter if the Lakers sign Paul George or another bigger name free agent once LeBron James is off the table in this point, either. Even if they kept the young core they have now, Ball needs to show us that he can take the challenge of being the leader.
Because if not, what were the Lakers thinking in the first place?