LivingLegend wrote:More thoughts on Ball.I believe he is an elite passer, with elite vision, feel and an off the charts b-ball IQ. He is a prodigy in terms of how he sees and feels the game.
I love his height and his skill with the ball but after that I have concerns.
- he is a mediocre to poor NBA athlete ((don't let the occasional alley oop dunk fool you - he is sub par)
- he is a very poor on the ball / on the dribble defender
- he struggles and doesn't show any great willingness to get in the paint or to the rim
- he doesn't get to the foul line (if someone could check Fox FT attempts vs Ball on the season against top 20 teams)
- he has little to no mid-range game
- he is unselfish but his shot selection when he does shoot is suspect and the reason you see some of the quick/forced long range 3's comes back to his lack of elite athleticism.
If Knicks take him -- I'll jump on the bandwagon and hope for the best but I had the same concerns with D-Russell and I think he's disappointed big time in the NBA so far.
Ball's relevance in the league will rest heavily with the system he plays in and with his supporting cast. If we were to parlay Melo in a 3-team trade that gets Victor Oladipo- a player that compliments Ball well- I think he'd be an exceedingly good player for us. Victor would allow us to develop Ball as a 2-guard defensively and could help us push the ball on the break, which Ball's lack of athleticism might not permit as the primary ballhandler. But I think we'd be mistaken if we think that Lonzo will be some kind of franchise player.