Coming fresh off of his second career triple-double, LaMelo Ball is expected by many to be the best prospect in the 2020 NBA Draft, even with Anthony Edwards and Cole Anthony living up to the hype in the college circuit. Not everyone is sold on Ball, though.
Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated recently spoke to an NBA executive who doesn’t think Ball is worthy of the No. 1 overall pick because of his poor shooting percentages in the NBL:
While it’s clear Ball will end up an early selection in a relatively thin lottery, there are echoes of skepticism tied to his candidacy at No. 1. “[The No. 1 pick] shooting sub-40% from the field and sub-30% from three? That’s crazy,” one Western Conference executive emphasized.
It’s true that Ball has struggled from the field this season. Through 12 regular season with the Illawarra Hawks, Ball has averaged 17 points per game on 37.5% shooting from the field, including 25% from 3-point range on 6.7 attempts per game, according to Basketball Reference. However, Ball’s shooting percentages aren’t much worse than Edwards’ or Anthony’s, and he’s playing against players that are much more skilled and physically mature than the talent Edwards and Anthony are facing in the NCAA.
That being said, Ball’s shot selection has played a big role in his shooting percentages being as low as they are and while teams will surely appreciate Ball’s ability to score in a variety of ways, they’ll have reason to question whether or not Ball knows when to take those shots.
The 2020 NBA Draft is still several months away, so hopefully Ball’s shooting percentages level out before then. Otherwise, it’s not hard to imagine Edwards and Anthony leapfrogging him on draft boards in spite of the other things Ball brings to the table.
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