Assessing Lonzo Ball’s rookie year: Did he live up to the hype?

Assessing Lonzo Ball‘s rookie season for the Los Angeles Lakers; did he live up to the hype?

Before the 2017-18 season even began, the most hyped player coming into the 2017 NBA Draft was Lonzo Ball. Already an easy top 3 pick, the exposure he received was mainly due to his father, Lavar Ball.

Throughout his lone season at UCLA, and after it was over you could see Lavar Ball on TV what felt like almost every day talking up his son. Comparing him to the likes of Stephen Curry, claiming Lonzo was better, Lavar was always on some show promoting his son to the media.

The Los Angeles Lakers drafted Lonzo Ball second overall, where his father was pushing for him to go.

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Lonzo Ball had hype and expectations similar to LeBron James coming out of high school. And he wasn’t even the No. 1 pick. With expectations that high, all eyes were on Lonzo to come out and perform like a star player right away.

As expected, this wasn’t the case.

Lonzo Ball struggled to start out his rookie season. With all eyes on him for his debut, he only scored three points, adding four assists and nine rebounds to go along with it. Lonzo struggled mightily with his shooting from outside early on. He averaged just under 25 percent from behind the arc for his first 20 games of the season. He also hovered around 35 percent for his total field goal percentage.

At times it looked as if Lonzo was afraid to shoot. He would have games scoring zero points only taking a couple shots for the whole game. His shooting affected the way he played and he looked tentative on the court.

Due to the hype around him, there were many people already labeling him as a bust. People were saying he would never become a good shooter with his form. They also said he was too weak and slow to play in the NBA.

Many were attributing his bad play to the added pressure that was on him. The hype Lavar Ball had built up for his son was too much for him to handle at first and it showed in his play.

After a while, Lonzo Ball started to get comfortable with his game. His shooting from 3 improved greatly, averaging 38 percent in the month of December. He also continued to improve other facets of his game during this time as well.

After a game on January 13th against the Mavericks, it was announced Lonzo Ball would miss an extended period of time until after the all-star break. Lonzo suffered a sprained MCL after bumping knees with Dennis Smith Jr. This would cause him to miss 15 games over the next month.

Lonzo Ball, the difference maker for the Lakers?

Lonzo’s impact on the Los Angeles Lakers showed significantly when he was out. In addition to seven other missed games this season, the Lakers are 9-13 without him in the lineup. The Lakers have much less ball movement when he is out and the offense as a whole is significantly worse.

Lonzo continued where he had left off when he returned, shooting much better from three and continued to improve each game. He has since cooled off in the last several games, but overall still shooting better than he did to start the season.

Lonzo Ball’s scoring ability is really the only knock on his game. Ball currently averages 7.3 assists per game which is good for second among rookies. His court vision, and ability to push the ball up the floor with his passing is a trait that can’t be taught. His passing ability alone is what sets him apart from most rookies.

Ball also averages 1.73 steals per game which leads all rookies this season. His size at 6-foot-6 gives him an advantage over most point guards which not only helps his vision but defensive ability as well. For being a rookie, Lonzo is a very athletic defender who gets into the passing lanes and creates fast break opportunities for the Lakers often.

In a few years, he has the ability to be an elite defender in the NBA.

Lonzo Ball has drawn realistic comparisons to some great company over his rookie season. Most commonly being Jason Kidd.

When looking at both players rookie seasons, the statistics look like this:

Jason Kidd: 11.7 points per game, 7.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 39% field goal, 27% 3-point
Lonzo Ball: 10.2 points per game, 7.3 assists, 7 rebounds, 36% field goal, 31% 3-point

Ball certainly has a long road ahead of him to match what Jason Kidd accomplished, but these rookie statistics are strikingly similar. Could Lonzo Ball become the new-age Jason Kidd?

The Lakers have already improved their win total by six games this season with just nine left. The Lakers are clearly a better team this year with Lonzo Ball as their starting point guard. With the young talent they have, this is likely to only rise again next season.

Could the Los Angeles Lakers make the playoffs next season assuming their young players all improve?

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Lonzo Ball has the potential to become an all-star caliber player in the near future. He has a very well-rounded game that suits today’s NBA game perfectly. If he can improve his scoring ability he will become a real threat at the point guard position.

Lonzo has a bright future in the NBA. It’ll just take a little more time than his father predicted.