The Charlotte Hornets have signed Gordon Hayward, days after drafting a ball-dominant guard in LaMelo Ball. The question is: Can it work on the court?
Did anyone see this coming after drafting LaMelo Ball? Gordon Hayward to the Charlotte Hornets in free agency? Hayward’s tenure with the Boston Celtics was shaky, to say the least. Bill Simmons described it as “a guy snake bit with injures.”
We all knew Hayward was exploring his options, the Indiana Pacers were the favorite and the New York Knicks were in running for a hot minute, but, out of nowhere came the rebuilding Charlotte Hornets — who just selected one of the most ball-dominant prospects we’ve seen this decade in LaMelo Ball. Hayward ended up signing a four-year, $120 million contract with the Hornets.
The thought process after the draft was that Ball was going to have the keys to the offense, likely having an extremely high usage rate for a rookie, improvising with the core around him to develop as a player and point guard.
The rationale behind signing Hayward is puzzling on paper, but if you put on your stylish ‘90s Michael Jordan beret it may help you understand his reasoning:
A possible justification could be that your franchise gets a guaranteed 20-point per game scorer and a possible All-Star next to your No. 3 overall pick. Having an example to follow may help Ball’s transition into an NBA star easier on the court, providing Ball with a role model and culture setter off the court – as we saw with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston or even a James Harden next to Kevin Durant with the OKC Thunder.
What does this mean for LaMelo Ball? Who for most to all of his life has been the unequivocal ball handler on every team he’s been on? Can LaMelo Ball help Gordon Hayward become an All-Star again? And what would be a comparable example for this current Ball and Hayward lead team?
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.
Hayward playmaking for LaMelo Ball
Gordon Hayward signed with the Boston Celtics envisioning he’d be the second option behind Isaiah Thomas, and oh how time flies.
We all know the story, Jayson Tatum goes toe to toe with LeBron James in 2017, Jaylen Brown, Kyrie Irving, and Kemba Walker all become priorities over Hayward in the offense, and when it finally looked like Hayward was going to be himself again another injury would happen.
The testament to Hayward’s ability to be an elite player is with his time with the Celtics. Coming from Utah as an All-Star and the first option and then becoming the afterthought of the offense in Boston and still remaining a crucial piece to the team. Bill Simmons puts it best here on his podcast:
"“And yet, there is the 25 percent chance that in the right situation you could totally see the comeback season… he really could fit into any situation with whoever was on the court, and didn’t necessarily need the ball to have an impact”"
Hayward is one of the best playmaking forwards in the league, averaging 4.1 assists per game and ranking 8th in assist per game for forwards* in the 19-20 season.
*If you list LeBron James at point guard
That’s where Ball comes in, LaMelo was capable of catch and shooting from three, and defenses will be leaving him wide open if he continues his current percentages. Which, may make the Hayward drive and kicks to a wide-open LaMelo an example of Hayward could help LaMelo be a productive player off the ball.
That thing that should excite you most, is the potential for the “Showtime Hornets”. Hayward and Tatum had real chemistry in the full-court, Hayward gave Tatum passes right on the money more often than not, if you didn’t know LaMelo Ball is at his best in the full-court.
Ball has an uncanny and jazz-like improvisational skill in the full-court and pairing that with Hayward (who is pretty damn good in the full-court as well) could make the Hornets the League Pass team this season, something Charlotte hasn’t been able to say, well ever.
It’s not a perfect fit, and that’s a given because LaMelo is such a unique and oddly fitting jigsaw piece no matter who he plays with. But, can LaMelo help Hayward become an All-Star again? and is there a comparable situation in the NBA? Or do we have to look back at the NBL to see how they’d play together?
How the Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball pairing may look
As mentioned already, the thing that may make the Hornets most interesting is the full-court. Hayward is a 6’8” athletic forward who can shoot. He’s a perfect fit for LaMelo in that sense, as Hayward can both finish at the ring or fade the corner.
Hayward attempted 222 threes this season, ranking 131st in the NBA. Hayward shot 38.0 percent from three while taking 4.3 per game. In his last two seasons in Utah, he was attempting at least five per game — it’s not a stretch to think Hayward could be taking six or seven threes per game in Charlotte.
My biggest takeaway is that Hayward only shot 49 threes from the corners, making 40.8 percent of them. LaMelo Ball if you haven’t already figured out is an out of this world playmaker, at age 19 he was already averaging seven assists in the NBL – what do you think happens when he’s 20 and is on a team with better shooters?
Let’s take Todd Blanchfield, who is also a multi-talented wing and was LaMelo’s teammate in Illawarra last season.
When Ball drives, he catches the eyes of everyone in the crowd, sometimes even he catches the defender’s eyes as well. The combination of speed, athleticism, and creativity will pay dividends for Hayward’s possible All-Star return, as Ball will be able to dish the ball to any spot on the court, including a trailing or corner loitering Hayward.
The NBA comparison is tough, but, ironically it comes from Lonzo Ball and Bradon Ingram. Lonzo has become a good 3-point shooter and LaMelo has shown promise in that area, (when he wants to take efficient shots) the Ingram-Ball chemistry could be an example of how it works between LaMelo and Hayward.
The two Pelicans are both capable defenders above 6’6″ who have shown shooting capability, the peak of the Ball and Hayward duo could look like this.
The fit isn’t absolutely perfect, with Hayward introduced a very intriguing element to that discussion. The next biggest question is, do the Hornets expect to make the playoffs?
Looking at the Eastern conference and last year’s standings, the only teams that could fall out (besides a team suffering an injury to a star player) would be the Pacers or the Magic. Leaving those two teams with the Bulls, Hawks, Wizards, and the Hornets all trying to get the 7th and 8th seed.
With a gun to my head, I’d say the Hornets are not making it. Ball has superstar potential, but it’s just potential right now. The laundry list of issues Ball suffers from on the court cannot be ignored.
Ball makes dazzling passes, but he also played little to no defense in the NBL and struggled to shoot efficiently – things that are required to be a playoff team, even in the East. Hayward will try his best, but it all comes down to how the LaMelo Ball enigma unfolds.