NBA Draft: New player at the top of the 2020 NBA Lottery Redraft

2020 NBA Lottery Redraft, Pick No. 1: LaMelo Ball, Illawarra Hawks

LaMelo Ball was a polarizing prospect coming into the draft, with the size and passing vision of an elite ball-handler, but a worrying personal history culminating in an inefficient and brief stint in the Australian Basketball League. Ball has answered almost every question about how he would adjust to the NBA with a resounding “I’m a future star!”

His passing, especially in transition, has helped to elevate players such as P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges. He has put to rest concerns that he would never be a shooter, hitting 35.4% of his 3-pointers thus far. While not a plus defender, his size and anticipation in passing lanes raise his floor on that end. He has gone from bench prospect to above-average starter all at the age of 19. The Timberwolves are badly in need of another star prospect to pair with Karl-Anthony Towns.

Team Fit: Minnesota presumably passed on LaMelo Ball in the draft because of his redundancy with D’Angelo Russell, but it is clear already that Ball is on another level as a prospect. Assuming the Timberwolves are committed to Russell, Ball and Malik Beasley could be the wing options alongside him. If Ball can keep up his solid shooting trajectory, he will have the ability to play off-ball at times with Russell. When he can, he would make a deadly combination with Towns in transition.

What’s Changed? Anthony Edwards has been inefficient, unafraid to shoot and a little too uninterested in finding a good shot. He mixes moments of athletic brilliance with case after case of his poor decision-making and complete defensive ineptitude. His most likely outcome is a floor-raising, ceiling-limiting wing scorer. With Ball, the Timberwolves would instead have a ceiling-blasting large point guard with a modern offensive game. Picking Edwards over Ball was a bad decision in November, and it only looks worse a few months later.