LA Sports Hub
Fansided

Los Angeles Lakers: Lonzo Ball is starting to run out of slack

By Jason Reed

PHOENIX, AZ - OCTOBER 24: Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on October 24, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Lakers defeated the Suns 131-113. 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 Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - OCTOBER 24: Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on October 24, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Lakers defeated the Suns 131-113. 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 Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Lonzo Ball has had his fair share of critics since the moment the Los Angeles Lakers drafted him with the second pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. However, that criticism is now seeming justified a year and a half after being drafted.

The Los Angeles Lakers selected Lonzo Ball with the second overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Mostly due to his father and the spectacle around the Ball family, Lonzo Ball entered the league as one of the most talked about rookies since LeBron James.

Ball was nowhere near James’ level when he hit the draft class and there have been much better picks than Ball since James. However, from a pure anticipation standpoint, Ball was up there with some of the most notable names of the draft.

All of that hype and speculation around Ball was naturally going to lead to some disappointment. At the time, this was a Los Angeles Lakers team that was coming off its fourth straight losing season and was entering its first full offseason under Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka.

More from LA Sports Hub

The new front office was willing to trade D’Angelo Russell to get cap space in order to let Ball take over the offense. And while he had his critics all throughout last year, he was not bad at all.

He did struggle to shoot the rock and did miss some time with injury, those are fair criticisms. However, Ball had an immediate impact on the pacing of the offense and the culture as a team as a whole. Even when he was not directly impacting a play, his tendency to push the tempo had a ripple effect throughout the roster.

All of the critics still circle back to the scoring and I have been one of the people on the frontline defending Ball’s value as an offensive playmaker and a potentially elite defender.

There are times out there when Ball looks like a seasoned veteran defensively. He is barely 21.

Because of his age and the fact that he has not compiled a full season’s worth of games yet, it is hard for me to ever jump off the Lonzo Ball bandwagon. The scoring will eventually come, and even if it doesn’t, the absolute worst Ball can be is a facilitator and elite defender. That is not a bad floor.

The only problem is that with LeBron James now on the team and not getting any younger, the patience for Ball’s lack of scoring is eventually going to wear out. Brandon Ingram hasn’t turned into the stone cold killer offensively that we thought he would become and the nobody else has really emerged as a true, star, second scorer.

LeBron thrives when having an elite guard that can score alongside him. The best teams he played on had Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving and as Wade succumbed to father time and Irving left it was obvious that James’ teams were missing something.

Ball is not that elite scoring guard that is going to take the load off LeBron and make his own shots. There is a benefit in having multiple guys that can score but to be successful in the playoffs now you really need two players that can come in and create their own baskets.

Ball is not that. He is averaging just 8.1 points per game this season and has been particularly bad recently. Over his last eight games played, Ball has just two games with 10 or more points and even a game with zero points scored.

Over that frame, Ball is averaging 5.4 points per game while shooting 28.3 percent from the field. That is terrible.

It is a small stretch and Ball is still young. If I were running an NBA team, I would see the immense value in Ball and either keep him or jump on him in a trade. However, that would also have to be an NBA team that is not actively trying to be a contender.

Next. Don't take the Durant rumors lightly. dark

The Los Angeles Lakers are trying to be an NBA Championship contender. With that in mind, it is easy to see while Lonzo Ball is losing some slack.

Home/Los Angeles Lakers