Los Angeles Lakers: Team’s biggest early-season disappointments
Lonzo Ball
What’s interesting is that the first two disappointments are due in part to the third.
Now before you go blowing up the comment section calling me a Lonzo hater, take a deep breath. Yes, Ball has been a disappointment through the first 12 games of the 2017-18 campaign. Then again, that’s what happens when a rookie goes into the regular season with through-the-roof expectations.
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I’ve already spelled it all out. The turnovers are way too high for Ball. He’s supposed to be a playmaker and elite passer, and yet he continuously puts the ball in opponents’ hands. The worst part is that, more often than not, he’s throwing it right at defenders because he dribbled or jumped into a bad situation.
The shooting has also been awful. His unorthodox release was heavily criticized leading up to the draft, and it’s starting to look like the skepticism was warranted. At this moment, he’s made only 29.2 percent of his field goals and 22 percent from behind the arc. Ball has the potential to be a star scorer, but has a lot of growing to do seeing as he’s only putting up 8.9 points per game.
We must, however, acknowledge the positives as well.
Apart from the scoring and turnovers, it’s been a solid start to Ball’s rookie campaign. He’s putting up outstanding rebound totals (6.4 per game) for a point guard. Despite the questionable-at-times passing, he’s still dishing out 6.9 dimes per contest. It hasn’t been as flashy as it was during Summer League and the preseason, but it’s still fun to watch.
Even his defense, while inconsistent, has stood out despite playing against some of the league’s best.
Next: 2017-18 Week 4 NBA Power Rankings
Ball has a blindingly bright future as a playmaking point guard for the Lakers. The big problem was that he was built up to be the savior of this franchise from Day 1. He hasn’t lived up to that hype through 12 games, which is why he falls into the “disappointment” category for now.