Los Angeles Lakers: Lonzo Ball is still the best sophomore point guard
By Jason Reed
1. Lonzo Ball is still the best passer and rebounder at point guard
Lonzo Ball may have struggled with his jump shot last season and his endurance down the stretch. Those are both very fair criticisms of Ball. However, Ball consistently showed when he was on the court that he could do so much more than score the basketball, serving as the traditional NBA point guard.
Most importantly, Ball could pass the rock like nobody his age and had a direct effect on his entire team because of it. Every point guard should have a proficient level of passing and the best point guards in the league must be an elite passer to go along with their scoring prowess.
Ball showed last year that he may already be an elite passer in the NBA despite not having a true superstar to serve as his go-to option. He averaged 7.2 assists as a rookie last season; that is more than Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and even LeBron James had in their rookie seasons.
When it comes to rebounding, Ball may already be one of the best rebounding point guards in the league. Westbrook is obviously the best and Ben Simmons definitely gives him a run for his money. Aside from those two, no other point guard, rookie or not, is noticeably better at rebounding than Ball.
Ball finished the season with 6.9 rebounds per game. If he would have grabbed one more board to move that up to 7.0, he would have joined LeBron, Simmons, Russell Westbrook and Draymond Green as the only players with 10+ points, 7+ assists and 7+ rebounds per game.