With the date for the 2020 NBA Draft set, we begin our look at each team in the lottery relative to LaMelo Ball. What’s the outlook of the team, how does Ball fit into their roster and plans and what’s the likelihood of him landing with the franchise? We continue our profiles with the Golden State Warriors.
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The Team
In a vacuum, there may not be a better match of prospect and team than LaMelo Ball and the Warriors. A team built on ball movement, shooting and unselfish play would welcome Ball’s skill set, which would fit like a glove.
The problem lies in the Warriors’ desires to keep their championship window open. After a season marred by injuries, Golden State is hoping for one last title run with its core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Because of that, Ball, along with most prospects in this draft, is not seen as a player that can contribute at a high level from day one. Part of that is due to improvements that will need to come from Ball’s game as a defender and shooter. But a bigger part of that stems from the fact he’s a guard and the Warriors have one of the best backcourts in the league.
It’s led to a back-and-forth debate about whether the Warriors should or would draft Ball. Part of what makes a franchise a sustained contributor is having players waiting in the wings to take over for superstars as they age out of the game. But title windows can slam shut at a moment’s notice and there is logic to Golden State wanting to keep their window open as long as possible.
And all of this precedes the conversations the Warriros will have about trading the pick. If they want an instant-impact player, trading for one by using the No. 2 pick makes the most sense. What quality player they can land is up for much debate but that player would likely be both a better fit and a player who can contribute more immediately than a draft pick.
There also lies the possibility the Warriors simply don’t see any of the prospects at No. 2 as worth the risk and trade down, acquiring an extra asset or two along the way. It would allow the team to potentially grab a prospect they view highly, like Deni Avdija or Tyrese Haliburton, without feeling like they reached them.
Take all this into account and it makes sense that nothing seems concrete about the Warriors’ line of thinking.
The Fit
If the Warriors go with Ball, they’ll be adding one of the most unique prospects to one of the more unique systems in the league. Ball’s strengths include his high basketball IQ and passing ability. Golden State’s offense is built on ball movement, player movement and passing. It makes sense, then, that DraftExpress called the Warriors and Ball the best prospect-team fit in the draft.
It’s when the roster construction comes into account that the pairing becomes quite a bit murkier. Ball almost certainly will not start for the Warriors. As small as the league is going, it is not going small enough to warrant playing Ball, Curry and Thompson together.
It would also be asking a lot of Thompson, who is coming off an ACL injury even if it’ll end up being upwards of 18 months since the injury when he returns to the court. Per Cleaning the Glass, only once in his career has Thompson played more than 25% of his minutes at small forward and that came in his second season.
It’s not as simple as the Warriors being familiar with playing small ball in the past. Those small ball teams featured small forwards like Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant and Harrison Barnes playing power forward. Shaun Livingston was the closest player to Ball in terms of role, but he was a veteran guard capable of defending many of the wings that Curry and Thompson couldn’t. And even then, he didn’t often play alongside Curry and Thompson.
Ball may one day get to that point, but he’s nowhere close to that now. He has plenty of strengths that he could bring to the team. He would be able to handle the ball and take some playmaking duties off Curry’s plate. He would add another ballhandler to a Warriors lineup that thrives with Curry off the ball.
Ultimately, though, is having a player that doesn’t fit with two-thirds of the core, who won’t be able to play alongside Ball for long periods of time given both are defensive liabilities and will need to develop before being able to play at a high level worth the No. 2 pick to this Golden State team? Even if Ball’s ceiling means he could carry the Warriors on into the post-Curry era?
The Likelihood
It’s near impossible to figure out Golden State’s thinking. There are as many positives as there are negatives to drafting Ball. There’s also plenty of reasons to believe the Warriors would trade the pick. Basically, anything feels possible.
Chances of Ball landing in Golden State: 20%