Los Angeles Lakers: 5 goals for Lonzo Ball’s rookie season
By Evan Massey
5. Be a legitimate playmaker
Making plays in college is much easier compared to making them at the NBA level. Many point guards have come into the NBA and figured out that they weren’t quite as much of a playmaker as they were projected to be throughout the draft process.
Los Angeles doesn’t currently project to have a ton of talent alongside of Ball for the upcoming season. They could still bring in another player or two, but at this point in time it appears that Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle will be the No. 2 and No. 3 options. If that is the case, Ball will have his work cut out for him.
Averaging around 7.5 assists per game would be a reasonable expectation and goal for Ball. In NBA Summer League, he put up 9.3 assists per game — by far the highest number among anyone in Las Vegas.
Ball has always found ways to live up to the challenges that he has faced throughout his career. Learning how to be a dominant playmaker in the NBA will be one of his new challenges to conquer.