LaMelo Ball is sure to be selected early in the NBA Draft this year, but some potential landing spots favor his growth far more than others.
As is the case every year, the NBA Draft represents an opportunity for rebuilding organizations to add what could one day turn into a superstar player. The case is being made at the moment that a few such players are a part of the incoming draft class, but one name that has certainly been mentioned a lot is LaMelo Ball.
The younger brother of Lonzo, who has played in Lithuania and Australia, even attempting to buy the franchise he lined out for there, the career of the youngest Ball brother is already storied despite the fact he hasn’t hit the league yet. When he does next year, as is true of all players, there are some situations that would suit him better than others.
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Right now one one draft board Ball is projected to go third to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and although we haven’t finalized the lottery order yet and Ball could conceivably go higher or lower, so this doesn’t seem like the best fit for him. D’Angelo Russell just got there, and as a good friend of Karl-Anthony Towns the two figure to stay there to try and win for some time to come.
This is an example of somewhere that Ball would certainly struggle to adapt to initially. No franchise is going to give the keys to him right away, but vying for minutes with an already established point guard who isn’t going anywhere isn’t going to help him grow either. Russell was an All-Star last season, and he’s not the only one among the bottom teams in the league.
The Atlanta Hawks also figure to have a high draft pick, but they also have Trae Young. The idea of Young and Ball melting our minds as they let fly from anywhere on the court is cool, but defending is an important part of basketball and let’s just say, there wouldn’t be a lot of it going on. Franchises do sometimes pick talent over fit, which would be bad news for Ball. The following three destinations, however, would be ideal fits.