Lonzo Ball on track to grow through his time in NBA

Despite fighting multiple injuries, former UCLA guard Lonzo Ball managed to take home the 2017 Las Vegas Summer League MVP award and helped the Los Angeles Lakers win the summer league championship.

Ball recovered from a 2-of-15 shooting performance in his first game, going on to dominate the rest of summer league competition. He averaged 16.3 points, 9.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds over six contests.

However, the question remains: How much of his success from the past few weeks will translate into the NBA come October?

Passing

Everyone knows that Lonzo Ball can pass the basketball. He set the Pac-12 freshman assist record while at UCLA last season and had no problems continuing the trend in his first two weeks as a Laker.

On his first career touch, Ball threw a perfect lob to second-year teammate Brandon Ingram for an alley-oop finish that electrified the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Later on, during the tournament portion of play, the first team All-American had another pass in which he punched the basketball to his teammate in stride for a fast-break dunk.

His creativity with the basketball and ability to push the ball up the court in just seconds forces the defense to get back into position much more quickly than normal teams would. This skill will be valuable in the NBA, considering how much faster the professional game has become in the past few years.

Ball led the summer league in assists per game, with 9.3, and has proven that his basketball IQ and court vision should translate well into the NBA.

Shooting

Scouts and media have questioned Ball and his shooting form since the beginning of his evaluation process.

Ball had an outstanding season shooting the basketball with the Bruins in 2016-2017, but struggled to find consistency in Vegas. He shot 2-of-15 from the floor in his debut, including a 1-of-11 night from deep.

He finished summer league with a 38.2 percent field-goal percentage and shot just 23.8 percent from beyond the arc. This was uncharacteristic of Ball, as he shot over 55 percent from two and 41.2 percent from downtown in college.

The mid-range game is still a glaring issue, because his release point is so unorthodox. His weight may be a concern moving forward, as he will begin to see players much bigger than those he faced in college and even summer league.

Ball did show signs of aggression in a small sample size, which suggests that he may be able to drive to the basket with success down the line. Against the Philadelphia 76ers, he took the ball down the right wing and fought his way into position, where he drew a foul on a crucial and-one finish.

The biggest concern in summer league play, however, was Ball’s awful performance behind the 3-point line. He failed multiple times at simply hitting the rim and did not look comfortable from NBA distance, putting the “magic with a jumper” claims on hold.

He shot nearly 20 percent worse than his college clip of 41.2 percent, at 23.8 percent. Although it was six games, the 3-point shot will be an interesting part of Ball’s game that needs more development.

Overall, Ball is more of a playmaker than a shooter, so when it comes to scoring in the NBA, he won’t be all that dependent on scoring 15 or more points on a nightly basis.

Defense

As an elite playmaker, not a lot of attention is given to Ball’s defensive game.

He stands tall at 6 feet 6 inches, but does not have the weight and strength to body up against wing players or forwards. Barring the event of a defensive switch, expect Ball to guard the one and two positions exclusively in the NBA.

Ball also lacks lateral quickness, despite his incredible up-and-down speed. This forces him to sag off of quicker opponents allowing them to shoot the 3.

In a game against Philadelphia, 6-foot-2-inch point guard Larry Drew II found himself matched up with Ball across half-court and absolutely torched him for a 3 at the end of the half.

This could become problematic in the NBA playing against point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and James Harden, who can all fill it up from deep.

One thing Ball does do well is play passing lanes. He makes up for lateral speed with his ability to read plays and intercept passes.

He averaged just under two steals with UCLA, at 1.83 steals per game. He improved that mark dramatically in the summer league, averaging 2.5 steals per game.

With active hands and a high basketball IQ, Ball has the tools to become a respectable NBA defender.

Winning summer league MVP is an impressive feat that deserves credit, but it also proves that Ball has the talent to grow in the NBA and be an effective player. It will likely take time, but he is on track.