Lonzo Ball showed unprecedented value in NBA Summer League

Despite struggling across several key areas, Lonzo Ball flashed his special potential by dominating NBA Summer League anyway.

When Lonzo Ball laced up his Big Baller Brand shoes for his Los Angeles Lakers debut, the noise cranked up. So did the peanut gallery and the abyss that is NBA Twitter. Decked out in his family brand, Ball had a debut for the ages and not in a good way. The Lakers fell to the Los Angeles Clippers 96-93 with Ball’s outing as the highlight.

Forgettable would be one of the best ways to describe Ball’s debut. However, the hounds and trolls of NBA Twitter wouldn’t let it die. Ball’s first play was an alley-oop to Brandon Ingram, but it was all downhill from there.

After all of LaVar’s hyping, Lonzo got shredded. His line of five points on 2-for-15 shooting was hard to watch. A 41 percent three-point shooter at UCLA, Ball missed all but one of his 11 attempts. Just five assists wasn’t enough to make up for his poor scoring and shooting.

Naturally in the world of hot takes and overreactions that we live in, Ball did not fare well online. His father called it “his worst game ever.” This however, would be the last time anyone mocked Lonzo Ball during Summer League.

One 36-point explosion, two triple-doubles and a Summer League MVP later, Ball silenced his critics. He even made history as the first player to ever record a triple-double in Summer League. Just one wasn’t good enough for Ball, though. He had two.

While Summer League doesn’t represent the level of competition he’ll face on a nightly basis, it was refreshing and encouraging nonetheless for one major reason. Ball found a way to demonstrate so much value despite struggling mightily in many key areas of his game.

Why Lonzo Is So Valuable

As shown in the clip above, Ball turned the Lakers into a non-stop transition train. Any time they could run, they did. Even when you thought they couldn’t push the ball, they did. Welcome to the Ball experience. Through one Summer League run, Ball looks every bit of a transcendent passer.

Ball finished the summer with averages of 16.3 points, 9.3 assists (a Summer League high), 7.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals. He put up the numbers he probably should have against weaker competition. His average of 9.3 assists is astounding given how many more chances he created that his teammates missed.

And that’s without even counting the countless times he unselfishly pushed the ball forward and didn’t get an assist. It’s going to be fascinating to see if these games can be replicated during his rookie season. In some form, don’t expect his passing influence to decrease against better NBA talent.

But we already knew about Ball’s passing. We knew he was a strong rebounder and a smart team defender. We knew he’d struggle as a one-on-one defender, especially when defending the point of attack. All of this played out exactly as expected. So what exactly did we learn about Ball that showed off his unprecedented value?

It’s the fact that he put up those numbers without shooting or scoring the ball efficiently. He had a tough go of it from three and shot under 40 percent overall. Ball was efficient beyond belief at UCLA, so this was surprising. Still, he managed to score over 16 points per game without any remote resemblance of a jumper or driving game.

This theory still needs testing against NBA athletes and more skilled opponents, but Ball showed that he could dominate games even when he shot poorly. Obviously he’ll need to score some and stretch the defense, but this was more than encouraging. It’s the sign of a special talent.

Only One Ball

How many NBA prospects can impact a game if they struggle to shoot and score or aren’t elite on defense? The answer is few and far between. Think Steve Nash, LeBron James, Jason Kidd. Not many names.

If Ball can put together this kind of a standout run of games, just imagine when that jumper falls at just around league average. Imagine later in his career when he fills out, finishes better at the rim and tightens up his handle.

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This isn’t to say Ball is for sure going to develop an unreal handle or hit 40 percent of his threes. But he’s likely to improve at least marginally at these key areas. That’s what makes Ball’s MVP such an encouraging sign. It’s the epitome of his value and a sign of what’s to come. He continues to show that he’s as unique as they come and there’s no telling what he could grow into.