A lot of people have opinions on Lonzo Ball. Thanks in no small part to his father, Ball has been one of the most polarizing players in the NBA since being drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
While the hype around Ball has died down recently because of a combination of his injuries and underwhelming production, the conversation around him hasn’t stopped. In fact, it’s probably only gotten worse.
The latest person to share his thoughts on Ball was Kendrick Perkins, a retired NBA player best-known for his time with the Boston Celtics, who he won a championship with in 2008. In the most recent episode of ESPN’s “The Jump,” Perkins bluntly called Ball a bust:
“This is who he is. He’s not a superstar, he’s not a star. He was the No. 2 pick with high expectations from his father and everybody else and, to me, he’s a bust because this not No. 2 production. A No. 2 pick … this not what you draft with the No. 2 pick.
“You draft a guy No. 2 because he outlets and gives up the ball early? C’mon, man. We’re not doing that.”
When just looking at Ball’s raw stats, that’s not a very hard argument to make. For his career, Ball is averaging 10.1 points per game on 38% shooting from the field, including 32% from behind the arc, and 44.9% from the charity stripe. He’s also never played more than 60 games in a season.
However, Ball has also been one of the most impactful players of the 2017 NBA Draft class. Through his first three seasons in the NBA, Ball is posting a VORP of +2.6, which is ranked sixth in his draft class behind Jayson Tatum, John Collins, Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell and Bam Adebayo. He’s also ranked in the top-10 in box plus-minus.
Would Ball be the No. 2 pick in a 2017 NBA re-draft? Definitely not, but there’s a good chance he’d still be a lottery pick, and there’s an even better chance that he’ll have a long NBA career because of the things he does do well like passing the ball and defending.
If that’s a bust, then so be it.
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