While injury had long ruled him out for the season, LaMelo Ball’s departure from Australia and the National Basketball League (NBL) and return to the states spells the end of an exciting and short tenure overseas.
Ball entered the league with lots of question marks and left with lots of question marks. But the questions being asked have changed drastically. No longer are the questions broadly-based as to whether he can hang with professional players but instead more centralized on aspects of his game.
As the calendar ticks closer to the 2020 NBA Draft and the predraft process of workouts and interviews starts nearing, we take a look at five things we learned about Ball from his time in the NBL.
1. He is league-ready
Ball’s wildly unique path to this point in his career had many questioning if has progressed enough to be ready to handle games against grown adults in the NBL. The answer was a resounding yes.
Despite spending a season toiling away on the bench in Lithuania then spending another year in LaVar’s doomed Junior Basketball Association, Ball developed into an elite prospect. The biggest takeaway from watching him with Illawarra this season is that he wasn’t overmatched. In fact, on most nights, particularly in the second half of his season, he was the best player on the court.
His flaws are apparent – we’ll get to that – but he has all the makings of a lead guard in the NBA. He’s excellent in ball screen situations with the floor spread with shooters at either getting to the rim, hitting the rolling big or whipping cross-court passes to open shooters.
Place him in an NBA offense with NBA-level talent, something he didn’t have with the Hawks, and he could really blossom.
2. The shot needs work
The other most obvious takeaway from Ball’s time in the NBL is the shot is a long way from being consistent. The changes don’t need to quite be wholesale. A couple subtle tweaks during the season saw him adapt more of a set shot that led to a strong stretch of games from range. But overall on the year, he 25% from three with some really rough nights.
His best stretch of the year was a six-game span where he went 12 of 37, just a tick under 33.3%. But across the other six games he played, that makes him 8 for 43, or 18.6%. The shot isn’t as unorthodox as Lonzo’s, but it’s had much lower success.
It’s going to be the biggest discussion point for him leading up to the draft and into his time in the league. He’s going to have to make changes that lead to serious improvements for him to be considered a threat from range. Until that happens, teams will simply go under on high ball screen actions and dare him to make them pay.
3. He’s an elite passer
Ball was able to find success despite his shooting struggles largely because he’s a truly elite-level passer. When he steps foot onto an NBA court, he’ll already be one of the 15-20 best passers in the game.
And while he’s certainly one to add a little extra sauce to passes whenever possible, he also possesses an incredible ability to see passes others don’t. And his passing repertoire is seemingly endless. He can hit the roll man off screens. He can hit the skip pass. He can drive and dump off to awaiting big after drawing a defender. He can kick out to shooters on drives.
There isn’t a pass he hasn’t made and it makes him particularly dangerous as a lead guard. He’s a willing passer, just like Lonzo, and is just as comfortable setting up a teammate as he is scoring.
4. He can lead an offense
Though the opportunity only came after an injury, LaMelo was handed the reigns to Illawarra after an injury to fellow guard Aaron Brooks. The results were almost immediately successful.
While the offense had to be retailored on the fly, the Hawks adapted to Ball’s strengths and ran plenty of high ball screens that led to positives. Unlike Lonzo coming into the league, LaMelo is a scoring threat off screens. That allows him the opportunity to throw some of those aforementioned passes as well as finishing at the rim.
The biggest sign of his ability to lead an offense was him notching a 32-point, 13-assist, 10-rebound triple-double to become the youngest player in NBL history to have a triple-double. One game later in what would be his final game as a Hawk, he became the first player in the modern era of the league with back-to-back triple-doubles.
To be most successful, he does need to have an offense tailored to him. But he’s shown enough that the team drafting him should adjust to him.
5. He can be the face of a young core
Ball has shown lots of things on the court that proves his skillset. But his resume off the court is just as decorated. His presence in the NBL led to all sorts of broken records from attendance figures to viewership records.
The list of teenage basketball prospects to be as popular as LaMelo is very short and includes the names of LeBron James and Zion Williamson. Like Lonzo, he has a national – even international now – following. Unlike Lonzo, he has the ability to be a scorer and an exciting offensive player to keep eyes on him.
Because of that, he can be the face of a rebuilding team or a young core moving forward. He can sell tickets. He can put fans in seats. It all matters and he has all the pieces needed.
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