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LaMelo Ball is in an ideal spot with the Charlotte Hornets

By Aaron Braaksma

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - NOVEMBER 30: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks in action during the round 9 NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena on November 30, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - NOVEMBER 30: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks in action during the round 9 NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena on November 30, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images) /
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LaMelo Ball is in a great spot heading into his rookie season

LaMelo Ball was arguably the most talented player in the 2020 NBA Draft class and landed in an ideal situation for him. The Charlotte Hornets already have a few guards but he should come in and take over as the lead guard, giving him a lot of freedom and the reins of the team.

That’s exactly what he needs, a low stakes situation where he can do what he wants to help him learn and mold into the star player I think he can get to. I know so many people hate him because of his dad but throughout the years you can see how much LaMelo has matured and he seems like a great human along with his basketball skills.

With his notoriety, people will want to watch him but being in Charlotte also takes him a bit out of the spotlight which is also a big help.

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LaMelo Ball’s goal: NBA Rookie of the Year 

LaMelo winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award is not out of the realm of possibilities in the slightest, I think it is very likely for him to win. LaMelo is going to have the reins of the team which is going to boost his chances of winning ROTY, not many of the other rookies have a situation like LaMelo. That being said I don’t think LaMelo is going to get to pull up to games and chuck up as many shots as he wants, the Hornets needs to be smart in that sense.

I also don’t think he would do that anyway, he is such a gifted passer and he is going to look to get the rest of his young roster involved, also with the addition of Hayward he has a very solid player that could help out his assist numbers because if the teammates don’t make shots you don’t get assists.

LaMelo Ball needs to improve: Shooting, defense, shot selection

Those three are the main knocks on LaMelo Ball’s game and I think the shooting and defense can be more easily fixed in comparison, with those he can have a lot of help to smooth those out but with shot selection, it’s all on him deciding not to take not-so-smart shots.

With LaMelo’s length at 6-foot-7, there is no reason he shouldn’t be able to play defense, the team is going to have to make him and he has to buy into playing on that side of the ball. His brother Lonzo was said to be a bad defender coming into the NBA but at this point, that is his calling card. If LaMelo can improve his defense to any level near Lonzo while keeping his generational scoring ability, the sky is the limit.

His shooting efficiency was a huge issue for him in the NBL but I think he can improve that easily. We have seen he has the ability to make jump shots, a lot of the issue is just his shot selection. When you pull up from 5 feet behind the arc with 20 seconds left on the shot clock that leads to the shooting numbers being very bad. I think LaMelo will be great, but if he smooths these issues out it takes him to a whole new level of star potential.

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I’d just like to end this off by asking for people to stop the LaMelo hate, he’s a great kid with endless basketball talent. I’m jumping on the LaMelo Ball train and I don’t think I’ll regret it.

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