Ball Don't Lie: The LaMelo Ball Thread

[HornetJail]

I think Cade Cunningham is OKC's target, not Lamello Ball. They won't let Cunningham leave the state of Oklahoma.

drafting LaMelo Ball would be a good way to tank for Cunningham though

[Hornet Mania]

Mitch is impossible to read at this stage, it will be fun to see what happens.

What made think about that is the RealGM wire claiming that MJ has given his seal of approval to pick Ball. It could be true, obviously, but it could also just be an attempt to get one of the teams that covet Ball to move into the top 2 so we can take Wiseman/Edwards (both of whom MJ supposedly loved a couple weeks ago). It's going to be an exciting night.

[James Gatz]

Mitch is impossible to read at this stage, it will be fun to see what happens.

What made think about that is the RealGM wire claiming that MJ has given his seal of approval to pick Ball. It could be true, obviously, but it could also just be an attempt to get one of the teams that covet Ball to move into the top 2 so we can take Wiseman/Edwards (both of whom MJ supposedly loved a couple weeks ago). It's going to be an exciting night.

I'm with you that it could be a smokescreen. Glad we're playing the game none the less!

[HornetJail]

Mitch is impossible to read at this stage, it will be fun to see what happens.

What made think about that is the RealGM wire claiming that MJ has given his seal of approval to pick Ball. It could be true, obviously, but it could also just be an attempt to get one of the teams that covet Ball to move into the top 2 so we can take Wiseman/Edwards (both of whom MJ supposedly loved a couple weeks ago). It's going to be an exciting night.

I hope you are right but I'll be **** myself over the next 9 hours till we pick

[CuseMayne]

Mitch is impossible to read at this stage, it will be fun to see what happens.

What made think about that is the RealGM wire claiming that MJ has given his seal of approval to pick Ball. It could be true, obviously, but it could also just be an attempt to get one of the teams that covet Ball to move into the top 2 so we can take Wiseman/Edwards (both of whom MJ supposedly loved a couple weeks ago). It's going to be an exciting night.

I hope you are right but I'll be **** myself over the next 9 hours till we pick

Same man. I'm praying that we're just playing the game here. I'll be super deflated if we draft LaMelo and keep him.

[BlackOutBuzz]

Honestly want the LaMelo rumor to be true. Give me the upside play!

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[James Gatz]

Honestly wan't the LaMelo rumor to be true. Give me the upside play!

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Will LaMelo be the most controversial top pick we've had in the past decade? Frank was kinda universally panned if I remember correctly.

[BlackOutBuzz]

Honestly wan't the LaMelo rumor to be true. Give me the upside play!

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Will LaMelo be the most controversial top pick we've had in the past decade? Frank was kinda universally panned if I remember correctly.

Probably, people were surprised at MKG over TRob but it wasn't seen as a crazy reach.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[yosemiteben]

Guess it depends on what you mean by controversial. LaMelo is for sure risky, but I don't think anyone denies the upside (do they?). The controversy is whether he's worth the risk.

On the flip side, I don't see Frank as being all that controversial in that I think pretty much everyone was unhappy with that pick.

[James Gatz]

Guess it depends on what you mean by controversial. LaMelo is for sure risky, but I don't think anyone denies the upside (do they?). The controversy is whether he's worth the risk.

On the flip side, I don't see Frank as being all that controversial in that I think pretty much everyone was unhappy with that pick.

Lamelo is certainly a risk but feel like a lot of the Wiseman camp think Ball isn't even worth a top 10 pick.

[LofJ]

Zeller was more controversial than Frank. Which is funny because he ended up being Cho's only solid pick (MJ pushed for Kemba).

[BigSlam]

Guess it depends on what you mean by controversial. LaMelo is for sure risky, but I don't think anyone denies the upside (do they?). The controversy is whether he's worth the risk.

On the flip side, I don't see Frank as being all that controversial in that I think pretty much everyone was unhappy with that pick.

Lamelo is certainly a risk but feel like a lot of the Wiseman camp think Ball isn't even worth a top 10 pick.

Which is funny because it seems like a lot in the Ball camp, or at least non-Wiseman camp - think the game has passed his archetype by and he has no value in the modern NBA!!

[James Gatz]

Guess it depends on what you mean by controversial. LaMelo is for sure risky, but I don't think anyone denies the upside (do they?). The controversy is whether he's worth the risk.

On the flip side, I don't see Frank as being all that controversial in that I think pretty much everyone was unhappy with that pick.

Lamelo is certainly a risk but feel like a lot of the Wiseman camp think Ball isn't even worth a top 10 pick.

Which is funny because it seems like a lot in the Ball camp, or at least non-Wiseman camp - think the game has passed his archetype by and he has no value in the modern NBA!!

Hey! I've said I'd take Wiseman top 10. I just don't have him top 5.

[BigSlam]

Lamelo is certainly a risk but feel like a lot of the Wiseman camp think Ball isn't even worth a top 10 pick.

Which is funny because it seems like a lot in the Ball camp, or at least non-Wiseman camp - think the game has passed his archetype by and he has no value in the modern NBA!!

Hey! I've said I'd take Wiseman top 10. I just don't have him top 5.

Oh - that wasn't a shot at you! Just a general observation.

I'm kinda indifferent on Ball. If we take him at #3 I'm cool to see how it plays out. Wouldn't be my 1st choice, but I'd be invested to see how it worked out.

Here is my big hang up on Ball: He's projected to be an elite passer, which is awesome (because I love me some fancy passing - big reason I really like Graham - he sees the floor and makes passes so well IMO).

But with him being a terrible shooter and defender, if his passing is "off" or he's not surrounded by guys who can finish his passing by making buckets, what does Ball bring to the table?

[James Gatz]

My take is that he won't be a terrible shooter or defender. At least not over the course of his career.

If he can't shoot at least 33%-34% then he will never be better than a flashy Rubio with worse defense. If he can shoot well enough then he's advantage handling and passing become huge assets. FWIW he shot 45% on floaters in NBL on a few attempts a game. Also is a career 82% FT shooter if you include all the available stats.

Defensively he's 6'7 with a 6'10 wingspan. Harder to head hunt guys that size compared to someone like Trae. His defense suffers more on ball due to strength than anything else.

The bet with him is can he be an average shooter and add strength. If he can't do either of those things then he's not going to live up to the pick. I personally like his chances of doing that.

You are right that he needs shooters around him. That's part of the reason I like his fit next to Graham and PJ.

[amcoolio]

He isn't hesitant to shoot like Lonzo, Simmons or MKG, I feel like he can improve his shot with several years of NBA training

I think we should be excited about ending up with either of the top 3 prospects, all 3 have superstar potential. Edwards is lazy and apparently doesn't love basketball, which concerns me most. Wiseman has slow lateral agility which will lead to him getting torched on the perimeter, which concerns me second. Ball is weak physically and has a subpar shooting form but he's reportedly improved on that, which concerns me the least because I feel strength gaining is an easy to fix problem

[JMAC3]

I think the shooting percentage is a bit exaggerated.

There are two types of three point shooters in the NBA, the guys who are going to shoot catch and shoot wide open threes. For these guys to be really good they need to shoot 37-42% to be considered good three point shooters.

Then you have guys that shoot threes off the dribble, pull ups, off pick and rolls. The majority of these guys don't shoot a high percentage... i.e Harden-35.5%, Young 36%, Graham 37%, Mitchel 36.6%, Kemba 38%, Beal 35%, Lowry 35%, Russell 36%, Booker 35% etc etc... there are only a few shooters that can take a ton shots and still shoot over 40% from deep and that is Lillard and Curry. I don't think anyone I listed would be considered a bad three point shooter, but some of those percentages would not say they are good shooters. Context is everything.

If Ball can get to 35% he will be just fine considering he will be a high volume and off the bounce three point shooter.

[DY_nasty]

his shot needs so much work.... becoming an off the dribble premier shooter in the nba is one of the most difficult things to do in sports. it took kemba nearly 5 years to get a jumper - and that was with decent fundamentals to start with and while being one of the hardest working guys in the league.

at the moment lamelo can barely gather the ball while being guarded. you guys are describing a gigantic improvement

[James Gatz]

his shot needs so much work.... becoming an off the dribble premier shooter in the nba is one of the most difficult things to do in sports. it took kemba nearly 5 years to get a jumper - and that was with decent fundamentals to start with and while being one of the hardest working guys in the league.

at the moment lamelo can barely gather the ball while being guarded. you guys are describing a gigantic improvement

Disagree about his ability to gather. His ability to pull up is one of the reasons I'm high on him. I'm more worried about his shot selection while pulling up.

[driveandkick]

Read on Twitter

?s=21