With the 2019 NBA Draft just three weeks away, the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to re-engage in trade talks with the New Orleans Pelicans for Anthony Davis soon. If that happens, Lonzo Ball’s name will likely enter the rumor mill once again.
Ball was offered in most — if not all — of the proposals the Lakers reportedly sent the Pelicans leading up to February’s trade deadline. While Ball and his camp may be turned off by the prospect of relocating to New Orleans, the team is really high on the 21-year-old point guard’s fit with their roster.
During a recent interview with ESPN LA’s “Mason & Ireland,” Pelicans beat writer Andrew Lopez of the The Times-Picayune said Gentry sees Ball starting alongside Jrue Holiday to form one of the NBA’s best defensive backcourts:
It’s probably Boston first and then I’d put the Lakers second. The Lakers do have good assets that people in the Pelicans’ organization value. For instance, Alvin Gentry loves the idea of having a Lonzo Ball-Jrue Holiday backcourt. LaVar Ball does not love the idea of a Lonzo Ball-Jrue Holiday backcourt, so that makes things a little bit complicated. They like some of the guys higher in the draft.
Both Ball and Holiday finished the 2018-19 season ranked in the top-10 for Defensive Real Plus-Minus, according to ESPN. In the season prior, they both finished in the top-five.
Offensively, they would complement each other well, too. Ball isn’t much of a scorer and he wouldn’t have to be next to Holiday, who averaged a career-high 21.2 points per game on 47.2 percent shooting from the field, including 32.5 percent shooting from behind the arc.
If Ball can replicate the success he had with Jrue’s brother, Aaron, at UCLA, the Pelicans will have one of the NBA’s most formidable backcourts. Meanwhile, the Lakers would add a perennial All-Star in Davis to pair with James.
If done correctly, a trade centered around Ball and the No. 4 pick for Davis could be a win-win situation for both the Lakers and Pelicans.
