LA Sports Hub
Fansided

Los Angeles Lakers: Why Lonzo Ball is a great fit alongside LeBron James

By Jason Reed

CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 14: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers embrace during the first half at Quicken Loans Arena on December 14, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 14: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers embrace during the first half at Quicken Loans Arena on December 14, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2. Lonzo Ball is actually a pretty good defender

Lonzo Ball does come short in some of the intangibles, such as first-step speed and overall fitness, but makes up for it with his size and overall basketball IQ. That size advantage over other guards as well as his IQ has led Ball to be quite the defender in the NBA.

Those outside of the Lakers’ fandom and those that just casually follow Ball and the Lakers may not realize how good of a defender he actually is. In his rookie season, Ball averaged 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.

Ball ranked 26th in the NBA in defensive win shares and was sixth for rookies. Even better, Ball’s 28.0 steal percentage was second only to Ben Simmons for players that played at least 50 games last season. He may not be the lockdown menace that is Kawhi Leonard but he is a shift defender that can pick apart passing lanes and steal the basketball.

Not only is this big for the Lakers to turn defensive stops into fastbreaks, something LeBron thrives in, it is huge for LeBron as he has not played with great defenders in the last few years of his career.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were simply awful at defending last season and even with Kyrie Irving were not much better. And while Lonzo Ball may not be the isolation, get to the rim king that Irving is, he gives the Lakers much better defense and gives James the comfort on the defensive end.

His offense may not be pretty at times, but his defense certainly is. Trading Ball for an offensive-minded guard with bad defending may ultimately lead to the same problems that James has faced before.

Home/Los Angeles Lakers