Eight prospects to watch in the NBA Draft’s virtual combine

LaMelo Ball

LaMelo Ball’s journey to a top pick in the NBA draft has been eventful, and unique in a way. With a polarising playstyle, Ball will be under the watchful eye of scouts during the combine.

After a great rookie season in Australia’s very own NBL, Ball managed to keep his draft stock at a steady rate. Ball is a great prospect to watch, with a dominant ability to initiate the offense and make plays off the rip. He easily is one of the most anticipated prospects for this year’s draft, and rightfully so. Obviously some of it is based on his popularity from his brother, Lonzo Ball, being one of the most popular players in the NBA, despite not being a top-tier player that fans hyped him up to be.

Ball is a great defender and playmaker, perfect for a team that has an abundance of scorers to pair up with him. A 6’8″ lanky frame obviously needs to be worked on, but from his experience in the NBL, Ball has clearly shown his potential to be a fantastic contributor, despite questions around his body.

But despite all the positives, there still are some outlying negatives that should be clearly altered in his rookie season. During his season in the NBL, Ball showed that he really wasn’t a great shooter, with a struggle for hitting his shots, unlike what was seen in High School. It’s an issue that obviously can be fixed with time and training.

Another problem was his defensive effort at times, which would leave him struggling to find the open man, once again, another problem that can simply be fixed. It’s just a matter of how Ball will respond in the training drills and scrimmages, and if he is worth that top pick after all.

Ball is a safe pick, that is worth the hype that he is emitted, it will be intriguing to see whether he can replicate his offensive awareness in the NBA for a team that will give him a go.