5. Sacramento Kings – Lonzo Ball
The Sacramento Kings miss out on Fox this time around but still come away with a nice player in Lonzo Ball. The two biggest issues for Ball at the time of the draft were his jump shot and the distraction of his father and Big Baller Brand. Both of which have been fixed.
Ball displayed an improved shooting form this season and was shooting a career-best 38 percent from 3 before the season was suspended.
He’s also seemingly distanced himself from Big Baller Brand and his dad hasn’t been a distraction at all since his rookie season. By all accounts, Lonzo is as level headed as they come, and take away those “red flags” and we’re left with a really solid point guard.
With his improved shooting, Ball doesn’t really have any glaring weaknesses in his game. He’s not wired to be a primary scoring option, but he has an elite feel for the game and showcases that feel as a passer and high-level defender. And now that he appears to have fixed his shooting troubles, defenses have to respect him even when he doesn’t have the ball.
I have no doubts that Lonzo can run an offense for a winning team, and that’s not something that’s easy to find. The Kings don’t get the point guard they wanted, but the drop-off is marginal.