Charlotte Hornets: Can Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball work?

LaMelo Ball playing off the ball for the Charlotte Hornets

This is the biggest concern that faces the brass of the Charlotte Hornets (and his teammates) should be: Can LaMelo Ball play off the ball? For that matter, has LaMelo Ball ever played off the ball in a competitive environment?

In the NBL there was a brief period where Ball was not the ‘guy’. The Illawarra Hawks signed NBA veteran Aaron Brooks to help Ball, unfortunately, Brooks only played three games before tearing his left Achilles tendon, which ended his NBL season.

After that it was without question the “LaMelo Ball show” — that’s when the hype really began. Ball finished the season with a 27.7 percent usage rate (9th highest in the NBL.) The mythology grew as the stories of the 6’7” point guard hit the American shores with the highlight mixtapes and triple-doubles games getting millions of views on social media.

When Brooks handled the rock Ball was asleep, it was worse than James Harden who infamously stands still once he’s passed and in playoff games is waiting for the ball to come back to him.

It looked like LaMelo was playing Red Light, Green Light. LaMelo completely froze in place for many possessions while he waited for it to be returned to him. He showed no interest and or ability in setting off-ball screens, cutting, repositioning his defender to the weak side or boxing out.

It’s not like he spaces the floor either, Ball shot 25.0 percent from three in the NBL on high volume. The percentages were horrendous because of his shot selection, but in a limited sample size, he shot 11-of-29 (37.9 percent) on catch-and-shoots through 12 games. In the film you can see when Ball takes his time on a jump shot, it looks like a more translatable NBA skill.

When Ball is engaged off the ball, he can be dangerous. LaMelo is an athletic, 6’7” point guard with a high basketball IQ. The famous put-back against the New Zealand Breakers is the best example of what an engaged LaMelo Ball looks like — not boxing out, but using his length, speed, and IQ to do wizardly stuff.

Is it a red flag I have to emphasize how little LaMelo has ever been in a situation where he isn’t the primary ball-handler? Yes. However, Gordon Hayward is an excellent playmaker himself, a solid defender with playing off the ball in Boston, while remaining a good shooter.

So, let’s look at how LaMelo could possibly play off Hayward.