LaMelo Ball has yet to play a game for the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL, but he’s already on the 2020 NBA Draft radar. In Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated’s first 2020 NBA mock draft, he has the 17-year-old guard going No. 27 overall.
Here’s Woo’s reasoning:
The youngest Ball brother will play in the NBL next season, which will be a good test of his maturity and a nice showcase for what’s actually a pretty appealing profile. It’s going to be a sink-or-swim type year for him, but he’s legitimately quite skilled and has good size for a ball-handler. Ball is much more scoring-oriented than his older brother Lonzo, but also has a playmaking element to his game off the dribble, and will come with enough intrigue that teams will be watching him closely. This could go so many different directions from here, but Ball’s ability makes him worth tracking.
This seems to be where most people have Ball going in next year’s draft. Last week, Jonathan Givony of ESPN updated his 2020 NBA mock draft and had LaMelo slotted at No. 24. Previously, he was projected to go in the second round.
Ball’s draft stock will fluctuate as the year goes on, for better or for worse, but right now he looks like a safe bet to be playing in the NBA next year. We’ll see what Australia has in store for him this October.
